


An Unknown World

by xAcidRainx



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Anbu Hatake Kakashi, Blood and Gore, F/M, Falling In Love, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hokage, I Ship It, Just Friends, Kid Hatake Kakashi, Long-Term Relationship(s), Male-Female Friendship, Minor Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito, Missions, Mushy, Mystery Character(s), Ninja, Nohara Rin Lives, POV Hatake Kakashi, Reader Is Not Main Character (Mystic Messenger), Rin x Kakashi, Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie, Romantic Fluff, Sad and Beautiful, Slow Romance, Surprises, Suspense, Third Shinobi War, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:28:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 48,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21579139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xAcidRainx/pseuds/xAcidRainx
Summary: Kakashi Hatake a Jonin from Konoha along with his teammates Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara, led by Minato Namikaze, embark on the most dangerous mission yet. Kakashi's world will be turned upside down. Twists and turns around every corner, threatening not only his sanity, but his existence. What will the future hold for the young Shinobi?This is a Kakashi POV and occasionally other characters, which will be noted.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi, Hatake Kakashi & Nohara Rin, Nohara Rin & Uchiha Obito, Saratobi Asuma/Nohara Rin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 44





	1. Just Another Day

"That mission was stupid". I said with a yawn. "Why do we always need to do these boring escort missions anyway".

Minato stopped mid stride and sighed heavily.

"We as Shinobi have a duty to our nations and villages to accept any mission that will keep peace and build stronger bonds".

"YEAH Kakashi". Obito spoke up with that mocking tone that he knew I hated. "It's our duty! Or did you forget from the last time that Minato-Sensei had to tell you?" he stuck his tongue out at me and that finally set me off.

I turned on my heels quickly ready to verbally strike back at the annoying Uchiha boy. He drove me insane with his cocky carefree attitude. He was a huge wimp to top it off! I don't know where he gets the idea that he can talk to me like that.

He doesn't know the first thing about being a REAL Shinobi.

As I was about to say that aloud Rin spoke up from behind me . "You two stop it, Kakashi just likes to complain."

...

"Geez Rin, why do you have to say things like that!" I let out an exasperated sigh. "You know as well as I do that I am serious about being a Shinobi, but I just want something that will make me stronger instead of all these filler missions."

Rin was right though; I complained a lot for someone that prides himself on being 'by the book' ... Sometimes it just gets to be too much to handle; ESPECIALLY when I'm teamed up with Obito the scaredy cat!

"Alright that's enough boys, lets all get back to Konoha". Minato-Sensei was always so cool about these things, he let us hash out our issues ourselves unless it got to violent during a mission.

We all agreed and picked up the pace, running home as quickly as we could.

...

I needed a shower and some sleep in my own bed.

I don't mind sleeping on the ground or a tree branch, but I just wanted to have some peace. We had a mission after mission for the past two months. Small requests were flooding the village lately and it was getting tiresome, we were in the middle of a great war so everyone was on their toes. Everyone needed escorted from village to village, nation to nation safely. That's where us young Shinobi came in handy, the Hokage wants us to be the last line of defense.

...

We arrived back in Konoha early the next morning. Our team had made no stops throughout the night, something generally not done in three person teams. The darkness held all kinds of dangers, especially in the times that we were living in. The war raging between the nations made every mission outside of the village dangerous to some extent. Enemy ninja could be lurking anywhere, ready to pounce when guards were down, nobody likes to be ambushed... and it could cost your entire team their lives.

...

But, even with that fact, we all just wanted to get home as soon as possible.

I wanted to be alone after the four days of being around my teammates and the whiney brat Kiriku that we had to escort to Iwagakure (the hidden stone village). Him and Obito got along nicely, not that it surprised me. They had things in common, such as not being able to fight.

I rolled my eyes at myself. I can be a jerk sometimes.

I knew we all were itching to be back in Konoha.

Minato-Sensei hadn't seen his wife in what seemed like months on end.

Obito and Rin had their own "business to attend to" whatever that meant. They could both be so secretive sometimes. Being the team captain and the Jonin in charge of my two teammates, I feel like I should know, but I didn't push the issue this time.

...

We all split up almost immediately after leaving the Hokage's office with our successful mission notice. Minato-Sensei would take care of the after-mission paperwork and we were all free to do as we pleased.

I waved my goodbye's to Obito and Rin. They took off in a hurry after saying their goodbye's and I couldn't help but wonder what they were up to.

...

I took my time walking home, taking a scenic route that brought me under a set of bridges that ran along the river. Leaning against the cold metal railing and looking at the water slowly flowing past, I finally felt a sense of peace that I had been needing for a long time.

The constant fighting not only with enemy forces, but with my own team was exhausting. I was looking forward to a break, no matter how short it could possibly be.

I sighed "why do things always have to be so difficult?"

...I felt like I was waiting for an answer from somewhere.

Of course, it never came...

I looked down at the water, it was barely moving, and I could see my reflection. Silver hair hung in my face under my headband with a messy spike upwards, and my undershirt that doubled at the covering of half of my face, coming up just above my nose, looked like it needed washed badly. I hate my eyes... they look just like my fathers...

Ugh...

I ruined my own good mood.

I kicked a pebble into the water off the embankment and watched my reflection ripple away. I shoved my hands into my pockets and turned to head toward home.

Till tomorrow.

I thought about how much I didn't want to be assigned another mission in the morning.

I really hope we weren't.


	2. What is Happening

KAKASHIIIIIII !"

I could hear my name being screamed but refused to acknowledge it.

"K-K-KASHIIIIII !"

That was definitely Obito. I yanked the blanket over my head. I just want a little bit longer.

Right on que the loud banging on the door started.

UGH.

I rolled out of my bed and grabbed my undershirt pulling it up my face before dragging myself to the door. I turned the handle and peeked out.

"What do you guys want this early?" I grumbled.

There was a pause between Obito and Rin who was standing behind him smiling.

"Early?". Obito turned around and looked at Rin. "Were you still sleeping Kakashi?" both of them looked genuinely confused and I was much to tired to even process what was going on.

"It's 1:00 in the afternoon Kakashi!" Obito was practically yelling.  
What? No way... It couldn't be that late. I glanced over at the clock on the wall of my entry way.

1:05 pm.

Sensei...is...going...to...kill...me. I missed ALL our training today.  
"How mad is Sensei?" I was awake now. I'm sure that he had extra training to dish out to me.

Obito started laughing hysterically, tears practically dripping down his face. "You should see your face!"

I rolled my eyes. "WELL? What did he say"?

Obito was wiping the tears from his eyes, still laughing when Rin finally responded to my questions.

"Don't worry Kakashi, he doesn't even know. Lord Third called him away before he even noticed that you didn't show up". She nudged Obito to make him calm down a little bit.

He cleared his throat before speaking again. "He told us not to wait for him, that it could take awhile and that we should train without him... BUT we went to get Ramen and waited for you to show up. When you didn't, we got worried and decided to come find you".

I could tell that he thought that was funny. Sneaking behind Minato-Sensei's back to goof off. I wasn't amused at all.

"So Kakashi, want to come train with us?" Rin broke the tense air surrounding me. She always knows when I'm upset, I don't even need to say anything.

I let out a heavy sigh, feeling defeated and a little bad for sleeping so late. "Yeah let me get my clothes".

The last thing I wanted to do was train but Obito was dead set on awakening his precious sharingan, the Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha clan. They had one of the most powerful skills in the village, blessed with a visual prowess that could easily make anyone unstoppable. Obito's dream was to become Hokage some day and take on the responsibility of protecting the entire village.

Psh.

...  
We arrived at the training grounds not to long after Obito and Rin had shown up to collect me for the day. I always hated training without Minato-Sensei, he kept us all level headed and sometimes I feel like he kept us from killing each other...well at least me and Obito.

Why couldn't we just get along? He just frustrates me so much and I get on his nerves too, but shouldn't we be able to act a least a little bit like a team?

Ugh ... there I go ruining my good mood again by over thinking. Whatever.

We were in the middle of stretching in the open field when a kunai came flying at us from just beyond the trees on our right. I jumped out of the way ready to deflect more as the first one landed just in front of where we all had been standing moments ago. Just as suddenly I jumped into the air and blocked a direct attack, a yellow flash just before the sounds of our kunai clinking together got Obito and Rin's attention, they got into defensive positions before we even were back on the ground.

"Ah, so you were paying attention Kakashi". Minato said in a serious tone.

Oh no...he knew I slept in after all... I could see it on his face, Sensei only looked at me that way when he was ready to distribute punishments.

"I'm sorry Minato-Sensei...I was just so tired that I lost track of time." I was practically groveling. I really didn't need any more stress piled on this week. I just wanted to be able to relax.

Minato sighed. "Well...you're lucky that I got the Hokage's approval to reschedule the ceremony then."

"What cere....?"

Oh no... "That was TODAY?" I said panicked.

How could I forget my own Jonin ceremony? Was I that irresponsible? Had I been so stuck in my own mind lately that I had completely forgotten?

Obito was the first to speak up before I could even respond. "Well it's only 2:00, couldn't we still make it?"

He was...trying to help me?

"That's right! It's just going to be in the Hokage's office, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we asked him." Rin was actually very excited about this whole ordeal; she was talking about it for weeks.

I had been recommended by Lord Third himself to become a Jonin. I was only ten and I was going to be responsible for leading this team. I had to wait until we had a free day in the middle of missions to be officially promoted to a Jonin. Which meant our next mission, I should be taking the real lead...

...

We all went to the Hokage's office together, Minato-Sensei made sure that it wouldn't be a problem to still make an appearance today and Lord Third agreed that it must be done sooner rather than later. He had another mission for us...

"Thank you for being such an exceptional shinobi Kakashi Hatake. Make this village proud." The Third Hokage spoke with pride.

"Thank you Lord Hokage." I bowed to him, respecting his recognition. "I won't let you down."

He cleared his throat. "I have a mission for your team Minato...and it is much more dangerous than the previous few". He was addressing us as well.

My heart raced with the excitement that I refused to show. This is perfect. I wasn't going to be leading an escort mission.

"You leave now. Go get ready and meet at the front gates". Minato said sternly. "Kakashi...I'm sorry but you cannot take the lead on this mission..."  
...My heart shattered. "But Sensei!" I objected, much out of line.

"Go get prepared". He walked out of the Hokage's office and left the conversation there.

...What was going on?


	3. The Journey Begins

The three of us met at the gate as soon as we were ready. Minato-Sensei wasn't there yet, so we sat against a nearby wall to wait.

"What do you think this mission is about? The Hokage didn't even brief us... and Sensei didn't seem to please about this..." Obito trailed on to Rin.

I couldn't deal with his questions right now "Just shut up..." my head was down resting on my knees. "If Sensei needed us to know, he would tell us. We have to trust him". My voice was as cold as ice. I was still upset that my shining moment was taken from me so quickly. I wanted to trust my Sensei to make the right choice.

Something about this mission just didn't feel right already and we haven't even left yet.

Something was giving me a lump in my stomach.  
Minato-Sensei walked past, heading for the gate without a word.

"Sensei..." Rin said softly as he walked past. She could tell that something was bothering him.

We all stood up and followed behind him to the gate, waiting for our briefing. Instead he just casually kept walking out of the village, not a word spoken to anyone and we followed as we knew we were expected to.

The gate closed behind us and we were walking in the forest, the afternoon sun shining down on us. Minato-Sensei stopped, his head down staring at the ground as if in deep thought.

"You all need to listen to me very carefully during every moment of this mission...Do you understand." He sounded void of all emotion with that question. I have never heard him use that tone.

What is going on?

As if reading my thoughts, Rin took a deep breath that sent shivers down my spine... "What is this mission Minato-Sensei?".

His hands were down at his sides, I could see him flex his hands into fists. There was a long pause before he turned his head and looked over his shoulder, meeting each of our gazes at once.

"There is a chance that none of us will survive this mission".

We all froze.

That wasn't what we were expecting to hear.

The forest was silent at night. Not even crickets were chirping their bedtime melodies. We had been running through the trees for what felt like forever. As soon as the sun fell far enough behind the trees encasing the world around us in dark, we set up camp. The clearing that we found was perfect for defense. Each direction had about 2-3 acres of open ground before the thick trees that lined the area could be seen. A small group of about 5 trees surrounded the middle like an island. We made a small fire and set up our sleeping areas. None of us had spoken since Minato-Sensei said what he did.

'There is a chance that none of us will survive this mission'

Could that even be true?

Minato-Sensei wasn't only talking about us, his students, but himself as well.

What or who could possibly take down the notorious 'Yellow Flash of Konoha'? Ninja around the Nations feared his speed and power...why was he so worried.  
...

Obito spoke after the fire had been lit. "I think that Rin and I should take the first guard shift, we are the weakest here after all."

I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily. "You don't need an excuse as to why you want to go off together. You're not weak."

He wasn't expecting me to compliment him obviously because he looked shocked and embarrassed at the same time. "umm... I mean... uh".

"It's okay!" Rin chimed in. "We will just take first guard duty". She looked at Minato who was sitting in front of the fire staring at the night sky, his yellow messy hair reflecting the light from the fire. "Is that okay Sensei?" she asked in a concerned tone.

It took him a minute to respond, but she patiently waited.

"That's fine but stick together please..." He never even looked at the two of them while he spoke.

He is acting very oddly...

Obito and Rin disappeared into the clearing, I swore I saw his hand reach for hers just before they were out of view. Good for them.  
...

The silence between myself and Minato-Sensei was uncomfortable. Usually he would already be talking about the mission, joking about things at the village, or making small talk at the least. He just continued to sit there staring up at the sky, deep in thought.

I had to say something, I needed to know what was going on with this mission, why he was so stone cold about it, or at least where we were going.

I deserved to know why there was so little chance that we could survive and make it home.

I can't imagine what that could be doing to him...at least he had someone to come home for...I had nobody.  
...

"Minato-Sensei..."

Nothing.

"Sensei...We need to talk".

Nothing again.

"MINATO". I shouted.

I instantly regretted that decision as he whipped his head to look at me. He was angry.

"Excuse me?" he replied. His voice was full of frustration. This wasn't him at all. He's usually so soft spoken or at least more kind than this. Though I know he has other sides to him. This one was just not something I have ever seen.

"I-I-I'm sorry Sensei...I just...I need you to talk to me." I tried as hard as I could to make that sound like an apology. "I deserve to know why I'm walking into my possible death".

He paused and his face softened a bit, he looked more like himself again but I could tell how frustrated he was, his blue eyes didn't look like they had flames behind them, he felt bad.

"I'm sorry Kakashi... You're right, you deserve to know about the mission, I'm just worried and angry. I didn't want it to ever come to this". He paused again, almost as if he was having a hard time getting his thoughts together.

I let out a sigh. "I can handle whatever it is Sensei, I'm not...Just a kid anymore". I sounded so unsure of myself. I know that technically I was classified as a 'child' but, I was allowed to put my life on the line from the time I became a Genin at age six doing low profile missions.

I was by no means a child.

He smiled from across the fire.

"I know you can." He replied. "I just don't know if I'm ready for any of you to fight such a difficult battle...We're traveling toward the village hidden in the rain, one of the most difficult villages for even visitors to get access to. We are supposed to infiltrate and collect information on their possible upcoming attack on one of our battle stations to the north.

That didn't seem so bad. I still didn't understand why he was so worried, we had done these missions before, what was so different about this village?

"We will be killed on sight..." He looked down at the ground as if it made him sick to even say that out loud.

They have someone with ninjutsu much stronger than I could ever possess. I feel as if this mission is impossible...and so does the Hokage, but we are the only ones who are available and we are his last hope to get the information before an attack that could destroy Konoha and all of our war efforts."

So it was that bad...

"Well..." I started to say.

What could I even begin to say? This is insane? I know that if you can't survive that none of us can?

"We can try our best Sensei". That works I suppose. I want him to have faith. We will never survive this if he loses hope before it starts. He's our leader, fearless and one of the strongest Shinobi of Konoha.

He seemed to try and soak in the words before he replied. "You're right Kakashi...You are so mature for your age I forget that you are only ten". He smiled.

I decided that was good enough for the night.

"I'm going to head to bed until the next shift. Wake me up when they come back". I said, getting up off the ground and jumping into one of the trees closest to where I had been.

"Thank you Kakashi". Minato-Sensei was looking back up at the sky, this time with a smile on his face.

I leaned back on the thickest branch on the tree and drifted off.

We could do this.

We are all making it out of this alive.


	4. The Truth

The sun rise came beaming through the tree branches above where I was laying, shining on my face. I groaned and tried to roll over and shield my face from the annoying light.

THUD!

"What the hell Kakashi!" Obito was rubbing his head where I had kicked him when I fell out of the tree.

I could hear Rin giggling across the field. "I thought ninjas didn't fall out of trees Kakashi, where is all of the chakra control that you always talk about". She was teasing me. She loved to pick on me when I was vulnerable. Then again, I kind of deserve it since I boast so much.

"Sorry Obito". I lifted myself up, brushing off my clothes. "Wait a minute...It's morning?!" How do I keep sleeping so long? Shinobi are supposed to always be alert, even when sleeping.

Obito still was rubbing his head where I am sure a large knot was forming. I almost actually felt bad about landing on him, but he probably will deserve it later anyway. Obito sat up and put on his signature pair of goggles. He was always so paranoid about his eyes, making sure to protect them at all costs.

"Oh, you're awake". Minato-Sensei appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "I just got done scouting the area, we seem to be safe for the time being, we need to get going if we want to make it to the village before nightfall".

"Why didn't you wake me up for guard duty Sensei? You should have gotten some rest before the mission". I sounded like I was scolding him. He found that to be quite funny because he let out a chuckle.

"Well I did get some sleep while Obito and Rin were still on guard...But I was actually alert enough to hear them return...unlike someone".

I sighed. I don't know what is wrong with me, this isn't like me at all. I am so obsessed with following the rules, the way of the shinobi, and being the perfect ninja. Maybe the exhaustion of it all is catching up to me. I couldn't even keep myself from falling out of a tree!

"Don't worry to much Kakashi". Minato said with a smile. "You all need as much rest as possible before we begin our mission, I will be fine".

He seemed more confident than he was yesterday. Maybe talking about it helped him a bit. I felt a little better knowing what the mission was and what was going to be expected of us. I can't honestly say that I wasn't more afraid of what may happen than I was when we left Konoha, but not knowing wouldn't have helped us at all.

I let out a large yawn and stretched, walking over to Rin.

"So, what is with you and Obito anyway". I asked casually as if this was a normal conversation to have with one of my best friends. We never really had one on one conversations; it was always while she was standing with Obito.

I looked up just as her face got bright pink. The purple strips of color on her cheeks that signified her as a medical ninja seemed brighter next to the color surrounding them, her beautiful brown shoulder length hair never seemed to lose its luster even in the heat of battle.

"W-W-What do you...mean?" She looked at the ground with a slight smirk on her face. I could tell she was hiding something immediately.

"Yeah alright, it's okay y'know...I don't care, I just want to make sure that he's treating you right is all". I started to walk away, shoving my hands into my pockets. If she liked Obito who was I to stop her? It's not like I expected her to have any feelings for me, especially because I wouldn't know what to do about someone as good as her liking me. I would screw it up anyway.

I'm better off being alone.  
...

We began heading toward the village hidden in the rain, keeping ourselves directly behind Minato-Sensei. I stayed the furthest back in case of a rear ambush, Obito in front of me as back up, and Rin directly behind Minato-Sensei in case of injuries she would be the most protected. As a medical ninja that can preform immediate medical ninjutsu, you always keep them the safest.

It seemed as if we had been running for hours when we finally stopped to take a rest and review the mission plan. We were making better time than we thought, so it was time to make sure that we were all clear on the details.

I sat on the embankment next to a nearby river, taking a few deep breaths to calm my heart down, it felt like it was beating out of my chest and I was sweating like crazy. It had been awhile since we traveled so far so quickly, but this mission was time crunched. I leaned forward over the water staring at my reflection once again.

I don't look right. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, but it wasn't me. I looked worried? Or at least stressed. Who wouldn't be after hearing that this could be their last day alive?

That thought felt like a punch in the chest.

I'm not one to be afraid of death. I know the risks of being a shinobi, the danger that I face daily, the possibility that every day could be my last...but Minato-Sensei and the look on his face...

I can't think about that. I need to stay focused to stay alive, we all do.

I pulled my mask down for a moment and splashed my reflection, taking water in my hands to splash onto my face. I needed to cool down. Pulling the mask back up I returned to my team and leaned against the nearest tree.

"Alright." Minato started. "We are going to Amegakure, the village hidden in the rain. We will be infiltrating and scouting the area to find any information we can on a suspected plan to attack our northern war bases and there is speculation that they are planning a direct attack to our village as well".

Both Obito and Rin looked unfazed. They were very focused on what Sensei was saying.

"There is a very big chance...that we will all be killed before we even begin our actual mission". Apparently saying this was still very unreal to him. He looked pained and wouldn't make eye contact with the two students suddenly staring directly at him.

Rin looked back down at the scroll laid out on the ground in front of her. She held her composure, but Obito had a glistening in his eyes that I know he couldn't control, and I already had an idea as to why. He took a deep breath and glanced at Rin. I knew at that moment that all my suspicions were correct.

Minato took a moment and then continued. "We will be entering using the transformation technique taught to you at the academy...As refugees from a nearby small village. This is the only way that we even have a chance to get beyond the walls".

I finally understood why Sensei was so afraid and seemed hopeless. This was an actual impossible mission. There was no way that we would get beyond the wall and begin our mission. As he said before.

We will be killed on sight.

"BUT SENSEI...!" Obito shouted making all of us jump. I had never heard him get so loud. He got up from the ground, staring down at the scroll. "This mission...We're walking directly to our deaths...If it was impossible why are we even doing it".

His fists were clenched at his sides. I had never seen him like this. It was almost admirable to see him become so serious, usually he was just a goof off that saw the lighter sides of every situation.

Minato-Sensei didn't even look at Obito. He had no emotion on his face and his eyes were shut, it seemed as if he was trying to figure out how to breathe.

The silence lasted longer than I could handle. It was uncomfortable but I couldn't bring myself to speak. I knew this last night and had time to process my feelings, but Obito and Rin are being told just as we enter the mission with no time to come to terms with the obvious truth.

We are going to die today.

I looked at Rin who was still holding her stare downwards. She looked as if she was trying to process the information in a reasonable manner. It was disturbing to see her not smiling, she was always smiling, the light had left her eyes a few minutes ago. My heart was breaking looking at her.

"SAY SOMETHING SENSEI !" Obito broke the silence with tears streaking his face. I had never seen him cry. I always made fun of him for being afraid, but he had a real reason why this time.

"Stop it Obito..." Rin finally spoke in almost a whisper. "He's in pain...can't you see that..." She was so relaxed but seemed void of emotion. "...We as shinobi must complete the mission, we have been assigned...or die trying...".

Her words hit me like a punch to the stomach. The air left my lungs immediately. She was right, that is what we agree to from the moment we become training. We are built to kill, emotionless, complete the missions...we are meant to be war machines.

Minato-Sensei finally spoke. "You won't be going". His fists clenched his black pant legs as he was sitting there on the ground.

"I'm going alone".


	5. Pain

"I'm going alone".

What...?

Obito's fists unclenched, his arms at his sides as he fell to his knees. Tears still streaming down his face. He was unable to speak. Rin held the same emotionless look as before, just staring downwards seemingly deep in thought.

My heart was throbbing as if it was going to explode. Sensei's voice ringing in my ears with the last words that he spoke. Was I even breathing? I couldn't tell. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.

Nobody moved or made a sound. Minato looked as if someone had shoved a kunai through his chest.

He couldn't do this, he can't go alone without us to back him up. What is he thinking? He can't leave his team behind on such a dangerous mission. He NEEDS us in case by some miracle we make it through the gates...how would he finish the mission alone? He....

My thoughts trailed off as realization hit me...

He was going to sacrifice himself to save us. If he were to die, we could get a chance to sneak through while attention was on him. He knew that he could put up enough of a fight and draw enough attention to get us inside undetected...He was going to be the one to die.

I took two steps away from my spot against the tree. I had to say something. I had to do something. I can't let Sensei sacrifice himself.

But isn't that what we do as shinobi...whatever we can to complete the mission...dying in battle was honorable...abandoning the mission was shameful, even if you must leave behind a teammate, completing the mission was priority...

Why did I suddenly hate that? I loathed it. I was so set on that being the only way. The SHINOBI way, my shinobi way... I couldn't let my Sensei sacrifice himself for me... he had everything to live for, he can't leave Kushina behind, one of the strongest shinobi of Konoha, he could become the next Hokage even. I can't let him throw that all away.

"No." I said the word without even having to think about speaking. "I'm sorry Sensei...but I will be ignoring your orders this time...I will not let you do this". I was shaking, I have never lost my cool like this in front of my team.

Minato raised his head, fire behind his eyes once again as he stood up and walked towards me.  
He placed his hand on my shoulder. "You will obey a direct order from your Sensei Kakashi". He smiled ever so slightly "I won't go down without a fight I promise". He was trying to reason with me, out of all of us he knows I would understand his decision, I was a true shinobi. I would follow the rules.

Suddenly, I pushed his hand from my shoulder and threw a punch at his body as hard as I could. Trying to put any amount of strength I had in the moment directly at him. My right fist made contact with the palm of his right hand.

I threw another toward the same spot. Not surprisingly it was also blocked, this time by the palm of his left hand. He gripped both of my fists tightly. "What are you doing Kakashi?" he looked confused.

"I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS SENSEI". I was screaming at him. I felt my mask being soaked by tears. I was crying. I hadn't even noticed. I was just full of rage and needed to let it out. "IF I INJURE YOU, YOU CAN'T GO". I didn't even know what I was doing anymore. I focused all of the chakra that I needed into my arms and yanked them away from him. I jumped back a few feet. Tears streaming down my face, I felt like I was going to be sick.

"I CAN'T LET THIS HAPPEN". I was still yelling. What made him think that he could sacrifice himself to save us. He had no right to make such a decision. I was a Jonin just like him. I should be the one to sacrifice my life to keep them alive. They needed Minato-Sensei; they didn't NEED me.

All of my chakra was being channeled into my arm, running to my hand next to my body. I could already feel the sparks on my fingertips after not even a second of channeling. All I had to do was make contact. How was I going to do that to the fastest man in Konoha? I had to try.

"STOP IT KAKASHI" Rin screamed from across the clearing where they had been sitting.

It was too late.

The sparks were flying from my hand and I lunged as fast as I possibly could at Minato-Sensei. He didn't move. Why wasn't he moving.

My Chidori attack hit him full force in the stomach sending him flying backwards into the tree that I was once was leaning on, splinters of wood flying in all directions.

Obito and Rin were looking at me with horrified faces. Rin was now crying. I made her cry...  
I fell to my knees and let all of my rage flow out of my body. I was sobbing and pounding the ground with my fists.

"Damnit, damnit, DAMNIT!" I screamed at the ground. "LET ME GO INSTEAD...I HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR LIKE YOU DO SENSEI...EVERYONE IS GONE...MY MOTHER, MY FATHER..." My eyes shot open, still stinging from the tears built up behind them.

My father...

He couldn't abandon his comrades either...I was just like him now...putting my feelings before the mission...I was already scum in the eyes of my Sensei...and my entire village after this.

"You're wrong Kakashi". A hand fell on my shoulders from behind.  
I looked toward the tree where Minato-Sensei had been. He was on the ground still, but with a puff of smoke he was gone.

A shadow clone...

"You have an entire life ahead of you, all of you do...I cannot let that go to waste." He sighed. "I have lived longer than many shinobi in the village, it's your turn to be great".

I wiped my face with my arm, no longer crying, and got to my feet. His hands falling from my shoulders. I turned and looked him in the dead in the eyes. I could see his sadness, I could feel his pain, he didn't want to die as much as we didn't want him to.

I clenched my fists once again, but instead I spoke the words that my best friend once told me.

"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."

A look of pure shock fell on his face. I could only imagine the faces of my teammates. I would never be the one to say such a thing. I Kakashi Hatake was done following so closely to ridiculous out of date rules. I am not a mindless killing machine.

My mind was overflowing with determination. "I am a ten-year-old Konoha Jonin, Son of Sakumo, Konoha's White Fang... I will not let my comrade die".

Minato-Sensei looked away from me and walked back toward the riverbank. He turned his head and looked back.   
"Let's go then".

I looked over to Obito and Rin. They were both staring at me with smiles on their faces.  
"You heard Sensei, let's get going". I said, as if nothing just happened. As if they didn't just witness the whiplash of emotions that I let out in a matter of minutes.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and started walking toward Sensei.

Rin behind me whispered almost inaudibly.

"There's my Kakashi..."

I sighed. I felt better, like a weight had been lifted from my body. I felt like I could take on the entire world alone and come out on top. I felt like my father, and for the first time since he died, I didn't hate that thought at all.


	6. Two Faced

We took our time traveling to the village outskirts, following Minato-Sensei's lead in the usual formation. Nobody said a word, but the tension was completely gone, as if nothing ever happened back at the river. I wanted to apologize to Sensei for what I had done, but I know it would be wasted, he wasn't ashamed of my behavior. I know that he still wasn't keen on the idea of us all going, but he had no choice. If we all died...So be it.

We stopped again as night began to fall, we had been walking all day and after the events of the morning, we were all exhausted. The air seemed thicker and it was more humid than before, we must have been getting close to the village. I have heard stories about the hidden rain, it is under a constant rainstorm. How do people even deal with that?

Minato-Sensei turned towards the three of us. "It isn't ideal, but we need to rest here for the night"

It really wasn't a sensible place to stop and rest. We were surrounded by thick forest without any open clearings for what seemed like miles. It was a warm enough night that we weren't going to need a fire to keep warm and we decided that it would be best not to draw attention to ourselves so close to the outer villages.

The nigh was quiet but the sounds of crickets and other night animals were a soothing background noise to close my eyes and listen to.

"Who is going to begin guard duty tonight?" Rin decided it would be a good time to ask and I figured that it would be my turn.

I shoved my hands into my pockets and jumped up into the nearest tree, but before I could go any further, Minato-Sensei was beside me. "You all go ahead and rest for now". He said before taking off into the forest.

I jumped back down to Obito and Rin who were leaning against a large tree trunk waiting for me.

"I think Sensei is taking your reaction well from earlier Kakashi". Obito said as I approached them. "Yeah, I guess so. He hasn't really said anything". I responded with a sigh. I don't know if he's mad or not about my reaction.

"I'm sure he will be okay, but we need to really get some sleep for tomorrow, we won't be making any more stops before the mission". Rin chimed in. I shook my head in agreement, we had a lot in store for us tomorrow.

I walked over to the tree beside the one that they were leaning against and made myself comfortable at the trunk, the grass was damp, and I wished that I had something to sleep on. Being up in a tree tonight could be dangerous, staying low to the ground was for the best. Being near Obito and Rin seemed like a good plan as well, being separated would be careless.

I was drifting off to sleep when suddenly my eyes flew open.  
"You guys don't think that sensei...went ahead without us...do you?" The possible realization was enough for all of us to jump up.

"No..w-w-way..." Obito always would stutter when he was stressed or worried. It was one of his tells. Rin lost her composure for a moment "We have to go find him...who knows how far he could have gotten already".

All three of us jumped up into the trees that we had been laying against and looked in the direction that he had been heading.

"I really hope he wouldn't do that to us". I thought out loud.

Before we could even begin to leave we heard someone coming from behind us.  
"Where are you going?". Minato-Sensei appeared looking puzzled.

"We were going to find you...Sensei". Obito looked relieved to see him standing there, one less thing to worry about. Ofcourse he wouldn't lie to us, we needed to trust him.

"It's okay you guys, we won't be going any further". Minato-Sensei said sternly. "We need to turn back to Konoha...We have failed this mission".

We all looked at him with confusion struck faces. What did he mean? We can't abandon a mission...No matter how risky or dangerous. What was he thinking?

"But Sensei..." I started to argue.

"It is not up for discussion. I will take the punishment from the Hokage. You won't have to worry". He smiled. As if nothing was wrong with what he just said.

I couldn't understand. He was so set on going through with the mission alone before, now none of us were going. I looked over to my teammates, they were as confused as I was, never would we expect that from our Sensei...then again, would they have expected what I had done either? Maybe this mission had us all acting strangely.

"How did we fail if we haven't even started yet?" Rin said, a concerned look on her face.

"We have been followed. I encountered two shinobi from the rain village. They won't be giving us any more problems, but we have been compromised and can no longer follow through with a stealth mission". He looked ashamed, like it was his fault that this happened. "I should have noticed before we had gotten so close...who knows how long they had been behind us; we could have been ambushed".

Something wasn't right. Minato-Sensei never noticed two shinobi tailing us. Rin being a sensory ninja didn't either. Even now looking over at her, she seemed shocked. She would have noticed before both Obito and myself if someone had been there. Is he just trying to abandon the mission without us giving him grief? Why would he do that.

"We should head out now before we get caught, we are to close to danger here." He said. "We cannot risk ourselves any more than we already have".

Obito and Rin both agreed and turned to fall into formation and follow Minato-Sensei.  
I didn't move, but I did plant my feet and draw my kunai from its pouch, holding it up and getting into a defensive position. "What have you done with Minato-Sensei".

This was going to be dangerous. I could already feel it before I saw the crooked smile creep onto 'Minato-Sensei's' face.


	7. Imposter

I leaped forward pulling out three shuriken from my pouch with my left hand sending them flying toward Minato-Sensei, just as quickly he deflected them and flickered out of sight momentarily, using the thick forest to his advantage.

"So, you noticed, did you? What gave it away". A handful of kunai came flying out of the forest, I ducked, jumped and dodged the first four. The last one grazed the side of my right shoulder.

"AGH". I winced from the pain, it cut deeper than I thought it would, blood already soaking my ripped shirt.

"Kakashi!" Rin started to run toward me before Obito grabbed her arm. "No Rin you can't go over there." He insisted.

I looked over to her, I could see the fear and confusion in her eyes. "I'm alright Rin, you and Obito need to prepare for a battle, this isn't our Sensei". They both understood and took defensive positioning.

"You want to fight? You could easily just run away, I know my way back to Konoha without you, this body will just make it easier to return". A group of shuriken flew out of the trees from behind us. I dodged again, this time making sure to count as they flew at me. Why is he only attacking me?

His voice was coming from what seemed like every direction. I couldn't pinpoint the location. I glanced over at Rin from the corner of my eye, she noticed it too and was already working on finding the coordinates as Obito kept guard over her. "There!" she pointed just slightly to the left of where I was facing. I threw my two remaining kunai where she had said, the figure appeared behind me almost instantly with that evil smile on his face.

My eyes met his as I turned on my heel ready to attack, instantly I froze, I couldn't move a muscle. I stood there with my whole body, paralyzed.

His eye...

I had never seen eyes like his, one was the blue of Minato-Sensei's and the other... it wasn't a sharingan or any variation that I had ever seen in the Uchiha clan. It was red where they should have been white, a white circle with spirals surrounded a sky-blue pupil that almost looked like light was protruding from it.

"O-o-obito..." I couldn't get my words out. I could see him from the corner of my eye, his own eyes overcome with fear. "No...Kakashi" he stammered "That is not a sharingan eye...". I don't think that any of us had ever seen anything like this. Not only did both of his eyes strike fear into the pit of my soul, but the blood lust is what disturbed me the most.

"How dare you do this to our sensei!" I gasped. The air felt thick, I could barely breathe. I needed to snap out of it, we had no chance if I didn't do something.

FIRE STYLE, FIRE BALL JUTSU...Obito shot a large streaming ball of fire at the impostor who dodged the attack before it even fully formed. I could move again.

"Kakashi I think that he can manipulate movement or at the least paralyze people with that eye". Rin said. That was good to know, at least it wasn't just because I was afraid of him, that makes the fight a little easier.

The imposter reappeared behind Obito this time, a kunai pressed against his throat. "OBITO!" Rin jumped away slightly so that she couldn't be caught as well. "Don't move Obito we'll help you". She said.

The man looked at her with those piercing evil eyes. Suddenly she wasn't moving at all. "How do you expect to do that little girl".

"STOP IT LET THEM GO". I yelled without even thinking. I shouldn't have done that, I needed to keep my cool or else we had no chance. I closed my eyes to focus for a moment, I needed to feel my chakra and control it. I was still working on perfecting my Chidori, I was fast, but I knew I wasn't fast enough to catch this man.

Where is Minato-Sensei?

"What did you do with him, where is he?" I said calmly, my eyes still closed. I didn't know how many people he could control at once, but I wasn't taking any chances. I had no idea how his power worked, but this was the best idea I could come up with.

He chuckled and it sent a chill down my spine. "He won't be joining us for some time I'm afraid". I could feel his eyes on me now. I steadied my breathing, trying to focus and not panic. My eyes began to slowly open.

WHAT?

I had no control over this movement, I was not opening them...he was doing it for me.

I had to watch as he pushed the kunai harder against Obito's throat, blood started to drip down the end of the knife and onto the ground. Rin was crying, the tears flowing down her face and dripping to the ground. "Obito..." she could barely speak but she got those words out.

I had to do something, he was going to kill him, and all I could do was just stand there and watch. Obito never lost his composure, I had never seen him so calm. "Kakashi, take Rin and get out of here, don't worry about me". He spoke as if he had made up his mind the minute that he was captured.

"Oh, no..." the man said as he removed the kunai from Obito's throat. He licked the blood from his blade before pulling Obito by his short spikey brown hair and tossing him in front of Rin forcefully. "You are not what I want boy".

The man started walking toward me. Never removing his eyes from mine. I could feel beads of sweat dripping down my face as he got closer with every step. I couldn't move. "They are just toys for me to play with". The blood lust in his eyes seemed to grow stronger as he reached just a few steps in front of me.

"I want you Kakashi Hatake".

Everything was fuzzy. I felt like I was going to be sick with how tight the knot in my stomach was. Was I fearing death right now? I had encountered the possibility of death before, but I didn't feel like this. What I was feeling right now was completely new to me and I couldn't handle it. My vision started to fade slightly, like I was going to pass out.

"Tsk, Tsk." He said. I could see him clearly, but the world behind him seemed to fade. I could hardly see Rin leaning over Obito who was kneeling on the ground. She was healing the wound on his throat, glancing in my direction every few seconds. "KAKASHI YOU NEED TO FIGHT BACK". Obito screamed to me.

I couldn't move.

"This would be more fun if I let you go, the Uchiha boy is right". He paused for a moment before letting me out of his strange paralysis technique. I fell to my knees with my hands against the wet ground coughing as if I hadn't been breathing for quite some time, as if I had been drowning.

"Get to your feet Hatake...We are just getting started".


	8. Minato Namikaze

**Minato p.o.v**

I should never have agreed to take them on this mission, I should have gone alone when Lord Hokage assigned it, he would have understood with how dangerous it was.

Dangerous...More like inevitable death.

I shook my head trying to ignore that detail. I couldn't afford to be careless in this situation. Right now I needed to focus on making sure that the perimeter was secure for the night.

I took the first guard duty for that reason, I didn't want Kakashi to run in to trouble right before our mission began, we were going to need his strength at the gates.

The mission plan was stupid, there was no way that we would get in as refugees, and even if we could, I don't think that Obito could hold a transformation jutsu that long. Not that I didn't have faith in my student, Obito was strong, but transformation was his worst form of ninjutsu. All of them have weaknesses and unfortunately this one could mean life or death for our entire team.

...

I continued through the trees, every 500 feet I would stop to listen more clearly before heading in the next direction. South, West, North, East as I always did, routine was my forte. I wanted to get back to camp and rest, although I made a good show of not being exhausted in the previous 24 hours, I was drained and needed some sleep.

I stopped for a moment after finishing my rounds. The forest was peaceful, in the distance, you could hear the rain, anyone who wasn't a ninja could have never heard it from so far away. It made me remember how close we were to the possible last day of our lives.

As a shinobi, you are aware of the dangers that you will encounter around every turn, the possibility of death on every mission. The life of a shinobi was danger filled, that's why we try not to get close to others and build bonds, we only end up hurting our loved ones in the end. That isn't true for all the village, some of us are willing to risk heartbreak for even five minutes of being with someone that we love and cherish. A lot of former shinobi in our villages have families that they came home to when they were done fighting and that is what some of us younger ones look forward to in the future, we have so much more to fight for when we have these bonds.

I sighed. "I will try to make it home to you Kushina". I thought out loud. I always feel that if I speak into the universe, maybe some miracle will happen. I needed a miracle this time, I hope someone was listening.

I suddenly hated myself for a moment. I hadn't told her the severity of the mission, I made it seem like it would be no problem, that it was just a simple stealth mission, like every other one I have ever done. She had seemed worried, but she always was about me. If I would have told her what I told my students...I can't even begin to imagine what she would have done.

She probably would have taken the same route that Kakashi did when I told him that I was going alone. Saying that we couldn't go on the mission if she beat us to a pulp. She could be so scary when she's angry and upset.

The stillness of the night was calming, but I should get back to my team, I need to check in with them even from afar and make sure that they are....

" Who's there?" I spun around just in time to block the shuriken that came flying at me, sending them flying away with a few clinks.

"If it isn't Konoha's yellow flash." A voice echoing in the trees, seemed to come from all directions. "It's been a long time Minato."

"Who are you...Show yourself!" I didn't recognize his voice. If I could only find him, maybe I would know. An eerie mist rolled through the trees. I had even less visual ability than before. I'll have to rely on my other senses to find this guy.

A sound came from my right, I jumped and kicked to the left, making contact with an open hand which gripped my foot tightly. "Very good". The voice spoke in the mist. I still couldn't see a face, just the scarred fingers wrapped around my foot. "Ah, so you always were that cunning...Not that it matters." Before I knew what was happening, I was projected through the air. I moved my body to kick off the nearest tree and threw myself back at assailant, my right arm and kunai blocking my neck and chest in case of a counterattack. I caught a glimpse of the man before he flickered away, kicking harshly down on my back sending me flying to the ground, breaking through a layer of grass and dirt as I hit it.

"ACK". The taste of blood in my mouth made me gag a little bit. I felt like I was moving more slowly, how was he able to hit me so easily otherwise. Was I not using my full potential against this foe? I began to stand back up, wiping the blood from my lips with the back of my sleeve.

"Are you having trouble facing me?" The voice called out from above. "I don't remember you being this weak Minato." I looked above again as he flicked out of sight. Who is this guy.

"Then again..." He was behind me. I swung my arm backwards making contact again this time with his arm as I met his gaze, one of his eyes were closed. I was holding and matching the pressure against his forearm. "You don't know how to fight me yet, do you?" He chuckled deeply. His voice disturbed me. If I could just make contact with my palm, I could mark him for my flying raijin.

"You're trying to mark me, aren't you?" How did he know...Could he hear my thoughts? There is no way that he would have known otherwise. I have never met this man as far as I can recall. "There is no need to do that now."

"What would you know about it?" I said hesitantly. Almost as if I didn't want an answer, but yet I needed to know who this was and why he knew me so well. What did he want...?

He jumped a few feet back from me taking his guard down completely. I didn't trust that move, he had something planned if I were to attack again. I stood my ground, being sure to keep my guard up. I marked the trees around the perimeter of the forest where we had set up camp, I could use my flying raijin technique to escape if necessary, but that could put my team in danger.

The man's right arm reached down to the leg of his pants; he began pulling the fabric up from his ankle leaving his shin exposed. My eyes widened with shock and confusion.

"You've already done that, Minato..."

What...? I never touched him. How...how could that be? It was my markings; I was sure of it.

He man started laughing wildly as he dropped the pant leg down. "You can test it out if you don't believe me, I'll wait." He couldn't be serious. He was asking me to use my technique to attack him...?

None of this encounter was making any sense. How did he have the markings. How did he know who I was?

"I don't need to test it out, I can tell from here that it is real, I just don't understand how."

He paused before answering. I could feel his gaze as if he was trying to get into my mind through my eyes. He was terrifying to even look at. His pale skin looked almost white, covered dark scars from head to toe. His jet-black cloak rimmed with a sky blue around the collar and his black hair was slicked back against the top of his head, reached just past his shoulders.

"You will." Is all he responded with. Before I could get another word in, he opened his other eye.

What is that...? It was nothing like I had ever seen before...

The blue pupil almost had light projecting from it, it was so bright and the red that covered the outer edges reminded me of fresh blood. I have never seen nor heard of an eye like that. What and who was this guy.

I decided that it was time to make a move, who knows what this could turn into if I didn't do something soon. I went to lunge at him and didn't move.

What...?

I was completely paralyzed. Not a single part of my body would move, I felt like the air had gotten heavier and my lungs were filling up with water, I almost had to gasp for breath, but I couldn't even try before his hand was wrapped around my throat. "you aren't who I need right now." He whispered.

Can't breathe...

I can taste blood again; it was trickling out of my mouth onto his hand.

"I want Kakashi Hatake..." He pulled his hand from my throat and licked the blood from it. "Goodnight, Minato".

I tried to yell, I tried to speak, I tried to move.

"K-k-kash..." Is all I could say.

..

Everything went black.


	9. Misery

"Get to your feet Hatake...We are just getting started".

My head was dizzy. The effects of the oxygen rushing back into my lungs was lingering. He seemed to be waiting patiently enough for me to gain back my composure and stand up.

Why is he after me? What did I do? I know that I haven't met him before, so what could he possibly want from me. I couldn't focus with all these questions circling my mind. The one that worried me the most was where Minato-Sensei was at.

I looked up at Obito and Rin sitting on the ground about 50 feet away from us. They looked fine but afraid of what was happening. This guy was strong, I knew that without even fighting him.

I looked up and realized why the others looked so frightened. The man standing in front of me no longer looked like Minato-Sensei. His almost completely white skin was covered in scars, there were almost more scars on his body than actual skin. I got to my feet and stared him down, I wasn't being controlled even though he was looking directly into my eyes. That meant that he could turn off that ability when he didn't want to use it.

"What do you want with me?" I had more confidence in my voice than before. Probably a result of being able to breathe and control my body again.

"I just need to make a few changes, that's all." He laughed, knowing very well that his statement would make no sense to me. I'm glad that he was finding this funny.

"What does that mean." I asked, unphased by his laughter. He's playing games with me now, he doesn't want to fight, he wants to make me squirm instead. "I don't know who you are or why you're here. Just tell me." I couldn't hold my anger back much longer. I clenched my fists by my sides.

He smirked. "Well that's a long story, but I could always give you the short version. You never were one for listening before striking."

What...? So, I had met him before? How...Unless he was using another transformation and this wasn't his true appearance, because I have never seen this man, or that eye of his.

"I don't see what it would hurt to tell you who I am, but first..." his devil like smile creeping back up onto his face. "...I have to make my changes."

He suddenly lunged at me and I was able to jump and dodge him just in time before he reached me. As he passed below my body, I saw a thin blade coming from below the palm of his hand, stretched out from his cloak sleeve. I needed to make a mental note of that one.

I turned mid air and threw a shuriken at his back. He flickered out of sight and appeared behind me midair, kicking into my injured shoulder with the heel of his foot sending sharp pain down my entire arm. I fell to the ground on one knee, holding my shoulder in excruciating pain.

"Aw, poor Kakashi, you can't take such injuries just yet, can you?" his mocking tone only pissed me off further. "I can handle anything you throw at me!" I screamed at him.

"Is that so..." He licked his lips where some of Obito's blood had dried. "Well then...We will just have to see wont we Kakashi." He lunged at me again, this time flickering out of sight before I could make a move. I anticipated him appearing behind me, so I spun and threw a backward kick hoping it would make some contact. Instead all I got was empty air and was met with complete silence.

I looked over to Rin who was trying to detect his movements already. "I...I think...he just disappeared..." she was confused. "I can't sense his presence at all anymore..."

That didn't make sense...Why would he just flee like that, when he was getting ready to fight me.

I turned to face my teammates. "What should we..." That's all I was able to say before he flickered back, directly behind me, so close that I felt he air rush between us. I turned to throw a punch and as my head twisted around to look at him, my face was met with the worst imaginable pain and I could instantly feel the blood saturating my face. I grabbed my left eye and screamed falling backwards to the ground. He had cut my face with the blade in his sleeve.

"I told you that I had to make some changes." He licked the blood from the blade once again making a noise that almost sounded like a happy groan. "I have been waiting to taste your blood for a long time."

I could only see him out of one eye, my other was completely useless anymore, I couldn't even open it. The gash was still spilling an almost steady stream of blood into my hand.

A ball of fire shot out towards me, the man fell to the ground on his back, dodging the attack with ease. "HOW COULD YOU!" Obito screamed from where he had been sitting. I looked over at him, he was now standing and breathing heavily as if out of breath. "I WON'T LET YOU HURT HIM ANYMORE!"

I almost didn't notice...his eyes...  
His sharingan had awoken...The bright red circles were unmistakeable, three black tomoe (comma like) marks surrounding the center.

"Obito...no...don't..." Rin was sobbing from behind him. "You take care of Kakashi, Rin. I've got this." His confidence was radiating from him. This was a totally different person than the one I knew. The hatred on his face was apparent.

The man laughed "Ah so you want to fight Uchiha?"

"It looks like I'll have to." Obito replied. The look on his face never faltering. He was raging.

"Have it your way child. Your precious sharingan won't be able to save you." The blade under his hand extended outward again. "You will die here!" He pushed off the ground with remarkable speed and lifted himself into the air, a large burst of air that looked almost like blades shot out at Obito. He was able to dodge every single one with ease and threw a handful of shuriken into the air. Each one moving in their own pattern. The man easily dodged those as well as deflecting a few with his blade.

Another fireball was shot into the air, at he same time Obito flickered, masked by the fireball jutsu that he just preformed, reappearing next to me. "Are you okay Kakashi?" he sat me up to look at the damage, ripped a piece of cloth from his sleeve and held it over my eye. "Keep pressure on this, I can handle him for now." He sprang up into the air toward a nearby tree. His eyes never leaving the man in front of him.

"You really think that you can defeat me?" he chuckled. "I am immortal! You stand no chance!"

I could believe that last statement, he looked as though many had tried to kill him, but all had failed. I had to help Obito, I couldn't just sit here and watch this.

With that I leapt into the tree on my left. I lowered my headband over my left eye, keeping the fabric that was stopping the bleeding secure so that I could use my arms. I was trying to let Obito stall and build up chakra to give my Chidori a shot, even if I couldn't hit him with it fully, I may be able to get close enough for the lightening to graze some part of his body, I just had to focus the energy to my hand and outward for a mid-range attack. I had been working on this on each mission to perfect the technique, it was like nothing I had ever done and took a serious amount of chakra control.

Obito had glanced at me while fighting, both throwing kicks and punches at the other, using only taijutsu to try and hit the other. He knew what I was trying to do and stuck with the unspoken plan.

I could feel the sparks on my fingertips. They were still on the ground, if I hit him directly this should go right through his body, so I need to aim for his chest, whatever happens after that I can't be sure of. I just know that I need to hit him with something.

My entire arm had lit up with sparks up to my elbow, turning into full-fledged lightening. This was new, I hadn't done this before, but it is what I was trying to make happen all this time practicing. Well it finally paid off I suppose.

He looked up at me finally as Obito landed a hard punch to the side of the mans face. It sent him flying into a tree, making a significant indent. He was trying to catch his breath after hitting him so hard. Obito put up a good fight, landed a single punch, something that even I couldn't do. His sharingan was amazing.

My arm was the brightest light in the forest now, sparks flying heavily in every direction, I could feel that I was ready to attack, and Obito had given me the perfect opportunity. I lunged from the tree as fast as I could, which felt quite slow with only one eye. CHIDORI. As soon as I was inches away from hitting him directly in the chest. I heard Minito-Sensei's voice. "STOP KAKASHI NO!".

What...

It was too late. My fist met his chest and went straight through, my entire arm up to my elbow was through his body, blood streaming onto my arm. I did it...I did it...

"K-k... "He coughed, blood spraying out of his mouth. "K-k-kashi..."

My eye shot open. Rin was screaming but I couldn't understand what she was saying. Minato-Sensei was on his knees.

I looked back at the man that I just put my fist through, meeting his almost lifeless gaze as he coughed again.

Obito...

My entire arm was soaked in the blood of my comrade.

My lightening fizzled out; I didn't move my arm...

My vision was going dark. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. How...how was this Obito...it wasn't Obito when I hit him, it couldn't have been. Obito had been over near Rin...almost 50 feet away when he had punched him...

I heard a laugh from far behind me. "Good job Kakashi." The laughter stopped and the man flickered into my vision behind Minato-Sensei whose fists were clenched on the ground, he actually had tears falling from his eyes. "It's not your fault Kakashi, you just fell into my genjutsu."

What...When...How long had I been under a genjutsu...

"You followed your path perfectly." He said. "Until next time then."

He disappeared and all that was left...Was the fact that my arm was still through Obito's chest.

"K-k-kakashi" Obito spoke.

"Don't talk Obito please..." I was crying. "It will only kill you faster." I couldn't help the tears streaming down my face from my one eye. Nothing made sense to me right now, I didn't want to remove my arm from his body, I knew that the moment I did, he would be gone.

"Kakashi...I need you...to take...my sharingan..." he spoke almost completely inaudibly. "Your left...eye...is gone." He coughed, more blood spraying from his mouth and dripping down his body. "I need you...to take...care of everyone...this is my gift to you...please...before I die..."

I couldn't control myself. I was sobbing uncontrollably. This wasn't supposed to happen, I wasn't supposed to be here like this. Obito shouldn't be dying. How could I let this happen to him?

Minato-Sensei's hand was on my shoulder.

"Do as he wishes Kakashi. It is his dying wish." His voice was void of emotion. "I can do it for you, but you will get Obito's sharingan."

I was shaking...His eye...

Minato-Sensei removed it with his contact medical ninjutsu, he had little experience with such a skill, but it was enough. Just as immediately he transferred it to the place where my eye had once been.

"Minato...Sensei...could you...bring Rin to me..." He was fading out, I could tell. I didn't move my arm, my eye from Obito was shut, I didn't want to open it.

Rin came over, tears running down her face as she took Obito's hand in hers. "Obito I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have let you go fight him..." She was staring at his one eye as if she was trying to soak in every bit of him.

"I...I..." With that, his eye closed and he was gone.

I couldn't speak, I couldn't move. He was gone...My best friend was dead...by my hand.

"Come on Kakashi." Minato-Sensei had wrapped one hand around my torso and one hand on my arm and gently pulled my body away from Obito.

Rin sat there longer, his hand still in hers as she cried.

"I...I'm sorry Sensei...I didn't..." He didn't let me finish before he took me into a tight hug. I broke down and cried against him. "Don't apologize Kakashi...It isn't your fault. You were trapped inside of a genjutsu, you weren't able to stop it."

I couldn't process that. It was my fault. I should have been able to sense the change. The more I thought about it, the more obvious it became.

When he had turned to look at me just before Obito landed the punch that sent him flying. He switched places with Obito, but in my mind I still saw him instead.

Rin was behind me as I left Sensei's grip. I looked at her with my one eye. "I'm sorry Rin...I didn't mean for this to happen." I said. She was looking at the ground, but she had stopped crying. "Open your eye Kakashi..."

I hesitated, but I opened it just as she looked up at me. My vision was something that I had never imagined. I could see so clearly with my sharingan eye that it made my other eye hurt trying to focus on it's level.

"Obito will always be with us, because of that eye." She pulled me to her and hugged me. "Don't ever blame yourself for this."

Minato Sensei held both of our shoulders.

"Let's take him home."


	10. Let's Go Home

Before heading back to Konoha, Minato-Sensei traveled to the nearest small village with Obito's body. In times where war is sweeping through the nations, it isn't unusual for shinobi to seek help from civilians for medical purposes, or even for helping them care for their passed-on comrades.

I was left alone with Rin while he was away. We had moved from where we had been, heading in the direction that Minato-Sensei had took off in. We found a small pond in a clearing and cleaned the blood from our skin.

I wanted to strip my entire outfit and burn it. I wasn't going to be able to get his blood out of my clothes and I had to wear it all the way home. It made me sick to my stomach.

Rin was sitting on the edge of the pond staring into the water. I wanted to say something, comfort her, or do something...anything but sit in this silence. I couldn't bring myself to do any of the things that I wanted. She was in pain, that was clear, we all were. But I was the one who caused the pain...I killed my best friend, our teammate, and the boy she loved.

...

We sat there for what seemed like the entire day before Minato-Sensei returned. He had a large wrapped bag on his back, he was going to carry Obito home, but we needed to do it properly.

"They cleaned him up nicely, we should get going so we can make it home as soon as possible, his family needs to be notified." Rin and I stood up and walked toward him getting ready to fall in formation.

It was incomplete without Obito. That thought stung the corners of my eyes, I was trying not to cry anymore, shinobi weren't supposed to cry. Sensei turned to us before we took off to leave.

"I know that this trip is going to be rough on the both of you." He was focusing on us both at the same time. "We need to be on our guard in case...that person...comes back to cause more trouble." He had no idea who that man was either. That somehow comforted me a bit.

We hadn't talked about the attacker and I hadn't mentioned that he was after me exclusively to either Sensei or Rin, although Rin probably overheard our conversation during the battle...I couldn't ask her. It wasn't the right time to bring it up.

"Sensei...What will we say about...the mission?" I was tripping over my words. What I really wanted to say was 'What are we going to tell everyone happened to Obito.' I was already accepting the punishment for killing a comrade...whatever that would be. To be honest I wasn't sure what would be waiting from me back at Konoha.

Exile? Shunned? Executed?

The last seemed a bit harsh, but I...murdered someone...

That thought hurt a little more than I was expecting. I knew what I did, but I wasn't ready to think about it in that way.

...

We had been keeping a steady and fast pace, trying to stay focused on our surroundings. We were not in any shape to take on any enemies, but if we were ambushed, we would have no choice. Getting Obito home was the new mission, that thought is the only thing keeping me running. He died a hero in our eyes, if it wasn't for him jumping in to save me, I'm sure I would have been the one to die.

Damnit why did he have to interfere. This should have been me being carried home.

...

We arrived home after only a few short rests, we again made the dangerous decision of not stopping overnight. This was more important thought, and if we stayed in one place too long, we could have been targeted.

It was late when the front guards let us through the gate. They bowed their heads silently after seeing what Minato-Sensei had on his back. It was common to see shinobi carrying their comrades' home in this fashion.

...

Minato-Sensei stopped inside of the gates and turned to face us. The village was dark and streets empty, the quiet surrounding us was eerie, I was rarely outside during this time of night, but the situation we were in made it worse.

"We will go to the Hokage's office first and take direction from him." He started in a serious tone, not something that I had heard in the past few days. "You will be silent until dismissed."

"Yes Sensei." We both whispered in unison. I was trying to prepare for the worst possible scenario in my head. I knew that not completing the mission was unacceptable, but we also had a fallen comrade and the one who killed him. This was going to be difficult to stand by and listen to.

I had been so deep inside my own thoughts; I hadn't even noticed when we arrived at the Hokage's office. I stopped at the bottom of the steps as my team continued ahead. "Kakashi..." Rin had turned to me after noticing that I wasn't behind her anymore. I was looking at my feet, fists clenched. I wasn't ready to face this, any of it...

I suddenly felt the warmth of a hand on my fist, unbaling my fist and lacing fingers between mine. "Come on Kakashi. I've got you." Rin said with a half-smile as she pulled me up the first step.

I walked next to her, holding her hand the entire way up. How could she be so nice to me still? How was she holding herself together enough to help me? How did she not hate me like I expected her to?

...

We stood before Lord Hokage; Minato-Sensei was on one knee in front of us, head bowed, with Obito's body laid out before him. His face had been unwrapped and Rin and I were standing with our heads bowed paying our silent respects to our fallen teammate.

"The mission was a failure sir. We were forced to abandon the mission under unexpected circumstances." Minato-Sensei's voice was professional, never faltering.

"I see." The Hokage spoke. He seemed almost sad, but he always had a difficult tone to read. "We will not be needing the intel that you were sent for any longer Minato."

"Sir?" Minato-Sensei had risen his head to look at Lord Hokage.

He cleared his throat before he spoke. Addressing our entire team. "We have taken a hidden rain spy into custody at one of our outposts. He gave us all of the intel that we needed and the ANBU has neutralized the threat."

I almost let out a sigh of relief. Although that didn't excuse the fact that we abandoned our mission, the end result turned out alright.

"We had an ANBU team dispatched to alert you as soon as you reached the nearest checkpoint to the gates so that you may retreat...I had assumed when you arrived that they had found you." He looked down at Obito. "It seems I was wrong."

Minato-Sensei stood up; head bowed to the Hokage. "Thank you, sir, we are all grateful that the mission was successful for them."

The Hokage nodded. "Now...Regarding Obito Uchiha..." He looked down at the body that was laid before him. I almost thought I saw pain on his face when he said his name. "What happened on your mission?"

I felt my heart start to pound in my chest, I felt the color leaving my face. If it wasn't for my mask and headband, I'm sure someone would have noticed how pale I had gotten. This was it, the moment I had to take responsibility for my mistakes.

"We were ambushed in the forest just outside of the village. Obito Uchiha gave his life protecting Kakashi. He died a true hero of Konoha." Minato-Sensei stopped there.

What...?

"I see. I would like to speak to you privately Minato, after you are done filling out your report." Lord Hokage looked to Rin and I. "Thank you for your help with this mission, both of you need to rest, I will have your Sensei collect you tomorrow for the preparations."

Rin nodded and turned to leave. I stood there for a moment, looking back down at Obito one last time.

"Kakashi, you are dismissed." Minato-Sensei said in his serious tone, not even looking in my direction as he did.

I nodded quickly and followed Rin out of the chambers. She took my hand again as we walked outside into the warm night. "I can't go home Kakashi...I'm not ready to be alone." She spoke softly as we reached the bottom of the stairs. "Can I come stay with you...just for tonight..."

"Oh...Of course Rin...but won't your parents be worried?" I was stumbling on my words. Did Rin just ask me if she could spend the night at my house? What world was I suddenly living in...She and I were friends and I would never say no to her, especially at a time like this, but still I couldn't believe she wanted to be around me at all.

She smiled at me. "They won't even know that I'm back until tomorrow anyway. I just think we need each other right now." She was right. I didn't want to be alone either, not with everything that just happened.

...

We arrived at the front steps of my apartment only a few minutes later, I had taken a short cut through some alleys between buildings so we would get there without anyone seeing us. I didn't feel like speaking to anyone who would be out this late and being asked questions by the possibly drunk shinobi wandering home from the bars.

I unlocked the door and let Rin inside. This was the first time that I really had anyone other than myself in my house. It wasn't much, small with only a kitchen that doubled as my living area, bedroom and bathroom. We both took off our shoes and I pointed to the bathroom. "If you want to get cleaned up go ahead. I can wait until you're done." I was trying to be a good host.

She smiled. "No you go ahead, I'll be fine until you're done." She looked down at my blood-soaked shirt. I felt the knot in my stomach again. Obviously, I should clean up before her, I had his blood on me still. How stupid could I be even be. "Make yourself at home..." I grabbed my new clothes and went to shower. The heat of the water never felt so amazing, but I wanted to hurry so that Rin didn't feel uncomfortable.

I walked out of the bathroom and into the living area, she was sitting on the old futon looking at my mess of books. Most of them were education based or on how to become a great shinobi.

"I have a spare set of clothes that you can wear." She jumped slightly; she must not have heard me come in. "Kurenai had left them at the academy one day and I forgot to give them back to her." I said as I went to grab them out of the closet.

I handed her the T-shirt and pants.

"Thanks, Kakashi, this should be fine." Rin said as she walked to the bathroom and slid closed the door.

Ugh...I'm ready to crash. I thought as I threw myself down on the futon, pushing the books to the floor. When Rin was finished, I would grab some blankets and make a bed on the floor for myself so that she could sleep on the futon. I listened to the time ticking from the clock on my wall...I'll just rest my eyes for a minute...

...

"Kakashi..." A voice whispered. "Kakashi."

I opened one of my eyes, I must have drifted off to sleep. Rin was standing next to me shaking my arm. "Hey..." She whispered as if being to loud would wake someone. She took my hand and squeezed it. "We need to talk..."

"I need you to promise that you won't let this change you." She said, her voice was full of pain.

"I can't promise something like that...After what I did...How can I ever forgive myself." I had no idea how she could even sit there and look at me. I couldn't even imagine looking in the mirror.

She looked down at the floor, she was sitting on her knees next to the futon where I was laying. "I don't need to forgive you Kakashi..." She was clenching her fists. "I never felt or thought anything badly about you...not even when..." She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence, but I already knew what she was going to say. I couldn't get the image out of my head, I could still feel the warmth of his blood soaking my hand and arm, I could see his face as he was dying...All I could do was sit there as still as possible.

I had something that I needed to tell her, something that Obito had said to me before Rin came to him. I just didn't know how to do it without hurting her further. I had to though, I promised Obito.

"Rin..." I was holding my breath. I didn't want to do this, but I couldn't avoid it now that we were talking, I had no other opportunity to bring it up and I knew that. "Obito...He made me promise to give you a message right before he...died..." I still didn't think that I was breathing properly.

"W-w-what...?" She stuttered as she looked up at me, small tears were building in her eyes.

I uncovered my left eye, it was still puffy where the vertical gash running from above my eyebrow, down to just above my cheekbone was. I wasn't used to my new eye yet, the depth perception was very off with both eyes open. I closed my right eye so that only my sharingan was visible. I could see her so clearly, every detail of her face, her hair and each individual strand...I already thought she was beautiful but...wow.

"Rin...Obito wanted me to tell you." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I love you Rin". My eye was encased in tears, dripping down my face. He loved her, he loved her so much that it hurt, it was as if I could feel everything that he felt for her. She stood up, tears in her eyes as well. "Obito..." she whispered his name as she fell forward toward me, I caught her arms with my hands. I felt so bad for doing this to her, I felt like I had hurt her with those words. "Rin I..." and that is all that I could get out before I felt her lips against mine through my mask.

She pulled away after a moment, still crying. "I love you too Obito..." she stood up and wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry Kakashi, I didn't mean to..." I stopped her from talking any further. I know why she had to do that; I knew it didn't mean anything toward me. It was her final and maybe first kiss to Obito.

I kept my left eye open and covered the right side with my headband. I took her hand and pulled her down onto the futon with me, scooting my body as far to the side as I could so that she could lay next to me. She laid there with me, face to face and we just stared into each other's eyes for I'm not sure how long, but it felt like most of the night. She was fighting sleep eventually and I could see it.

I smiled at her, which she probably couldn't even tell through my mask. "Go to sleep Rin, I'll be here when you wake up." I saw a smile sneak onto her lips ever so slightly. "Thank you." Is all she said before she passed out. I'm so glad that she felt safe with me, even after what I had done...I was still able to make her feel like that. "I'll always keep you safe." I whispered to her. I knew she was asleep, but I had to do it. I owed it to him to do so.

I closed my eye letting sleep take over. "I love you too, Kakashi." She whispered back to me and burrowed her face into my arm.

At that moment, I felt more at peace than I ever have in my life.


	11. Blood Mist

K-K-Kashi...

K...Kashi...

KAKASHI

I shot up; eyes wide open drenched in sweat from head to toe.

It had been the same dream since Obito died. I hadn't gotten a single full night sleep without nightmares plaguing my mind. It had been 3 years and so much has changed, but not that part. Our team had split up about 6 months after the incident, Rin needed a change in her life, she couldn't handle the missions anymore. Minato-Sensei had spoken to Lord Hokage and had gotten her a position in the medical ninja training program, one day she was going to be a brilliant medical shinobi, she has potential to be one of the best.

Minato-Sensei took some time off from missions to help in the defense of the Konoha. We have been getting more threats than usual from enemy forces and we needed to have a certain number of high- level shinobi to protect the citizens and the area surrounding the village, the war wasn't waging out in neutral territories anymore, it had calmed down some, but villages were still being targeted. He had volunteered of course and took on the occasional higher-profile mission if it were needed, but most of the time he was home taking care of everyone here.

I asked the Hokage for the same and he agreed, saying that after what I had gone through, I deserved some down time. I think he felt bad for what happened and was taking pity on me. We all had told him about what happened on that mission, about the man that appeared and ambushed us...About his eye and the power that it seemed to hold. Nobody had ever heard of such a thing, so we were on the defense with that as well.

Honestly, I just didn't want to be on a new team, it didn't feel right to be without Minato-Sensei and Rin. I still took missions and would team up with another shinobi on one or two on occasions, but they weren't the same type of missions that I would have gotten before. I almost always led the team and was the only Jonin, since most of our military power was those who were Jonin, I was always one of the few in the village, the others were constantly on missions or being used to fight when it was needed. The small missions were distracting enough, but I never made friends with any of my temporary teammates, we only were paired for a single mission, not worth getting to know anyone.

I was shut down otherwise, not caring at all for anything. I didn't spend much time with my old classmates unless for sparing or learning new Jutsu. I was interested in getting stronger, and with the Sharingan that Obito entrusted to me, I was able to learn things much easier, I even was worked on perfecting my Chidori, it was pretty flawless, but I still was working on making it more powerful. Something that I couldn't do without the use of my visual abilities.

...

I can't believe it has already been 3 years...Minato-Sensei was even about to take on the position as the Fourth Hokage...

So much has changed Obito...I wish you were here to see it.

The thought was constant, he missed out on so many things. I couldn't help but wonder what things would have been like if he hadn't died. Would the team still be together? Would him and I still be fighting?

Rin...I wonder how they would have played out.

...

I got up out of bed and splashed some water on my face, trying to get the dream out of my head for the millionth time. The black bags under my eyes were more and more difficult to hide, not that it mattered all that much anyway, nobody was paying that much attention to my face. I hid most of it under my mask and headband now a days. I wasn't ashamed of my left eye, I liked having it for several reasons, but the biggest one was the feeling that Obito was still with me. I don't know what it was, but I felt like he could see what I was seeing, that I didn't have to miss him as much because he was a part of me. I just wish that Rin could handle looking at me.

Things were fine for quite some time between the two of us, especially after that night at my apartment. We spent a lot of time together, nothing more than just friends, but we were comfortable enough to feel safe. Our team went out on a few low-profile missions after the Hokage gave us some time to recover from the failed mission, we were all beat up and needed to heal up before we were sent away again. That's when things started to go south with Rin and I. She didn't want to admit that she was afraid of me, but after all the time we spent together I didn't expect it when she finally told me that she was.

...

Our team was out on a mission a little over two years ago. We had to deliver food and supplies to nearby outposts that sent in a request to Konoha. The furthest one took about a day to get to, but it was a pretty straight shot from the village. Everything was going smoothly, and we made the deliveries quickly, and planned on staying the night at an outpost that acted as a halfway point for our travel home.

As we got close to the outpost something felt odd. The forest was almost dead silent, not even the sounds of small animals that we were used to hearing.

"Stop." Minato-Sensei whispered; he had put his fist up to signal us.

We followed him behind a patch of bushes where we all sat down, backs facing each other in a triangle and spoke in whispers.

"I don't think that anyone has noticed us yet." Rin said confidently. We could always count on her sensory skills to help in these situations.

"Right, we need to be careful moving forward. I don't know if they have reached the outpost, who they are, or if they are even enemy shinobi." Minato-Sensei had his kunai blade drawn, ready in case of an ambush while we were discussing battle plans.

"Kakashi." Rin said. "Are you ready?". I nodded; I was taking the lead. We had planned and had practiced a new attack formation back at the village for these situations. "Let's move out." I said before jumping into the tree in front of Minato-Sensei. I climbed my way as high as I could until I could see through the branches of the trees surrounding us. Both Minato-Sensei and Rin had disappeared into their positions scattered nearby. I uncovered my left eye and used my sharingan to do a sweep of the area, the visual enhancement was going to be very useful in these situations. As soon as I didn't see anything unusual, I motioned to move forward with my right hand. I had to trust that they were behind me because I couldn't see them while watching for the enemy.

Rin flickered to my left side. "Kakashi, I don't sense them anymore." She flickered away back into position. I didn't see anything either, not a movement, not the shadow of someone who possibly used a cloaking jutsu to cover themselves. Nothing but that eerie silence. They must have moved either further from us or past us. I began to motion for the others to stand down and regroup when I saw the slightest glint of light about 10 feet ahead between the trees.

A trap. That's why we can't find or sense them. They had left something in case they were being followed and moved forward, they weren't here anymore, but they were heading to the outpost. I signaled a regroup and both of my teammates appeared next to me on the tree branches.

"Do you see it Sensei?" I said.

He smirked at me. "Good looking Kakashi, I may not have even noticed from where I was." I turned to Rin; she was focusing ahead trying to feel out the enemy. "There" she whispered, pointing a bit to the left of where we were facing. "About 70 feet North-West from this spot. They've stopped." I scanned the ground below us counting the trip lines. "We have about 18 trips between the ground and surrounding trees. The only way that we can move without accidently tripping is North-East, away from the enemy...or up through the top of the trees..." I wasn't sure about that last part, it could be more dangerous to jump through the trees without coverage, but the other choice would put us away from the enemy and we wouldn't be able to assist the shinobi at the outpost.

"What would you suggest we do Kakashi?" Minato-Sensei was letting me take the entire lead on this.

"I think we should continue to find the enemy. We don't know anything about them, so I don't feel comfortable leaving them for our allies to try and fight." I paused. "There is strength in numbers."

Rin nodded and seemed content with that answer, she felt the same way about abandoning our allies, it could get bad and we didn't want that on our conscious. With that we headed upward until we could see over the trees. The forest was vast, there wasn't an end in sight no matter where you looked. "Rin have they moved at all." She was already focusing in the direction that she instructed before. "No, they are still there, they must be regrouping or resting."

"Alright, lets go get them." Minato-Sensei waited for me to head off toward the enemy, falling behind Rin as we went.

I could finally see them when we were about 30 feet away, they had stopped in a clearing and were talking. I couldn't make out much other than their bodies and the slight movements that they were making, there were three of them. They wore village headbands, so they were shinobi after all. One of the men looked in our direction and I could see his village symbol etched on his forehead.

"Sensei...They're blood mist ninja." I said surprised. I had never seen a hidden mist shinobi this close to Konoha, we were in no way an ally of theirs, so they had no business being on our land or laying traps, these guys were up to something. "Kakashi, are you ready?" Minato-Sensei had concern in his voice, but very serious none the less. "They have a ninjutsu that limits their enemies' sight. We're going to need your sharingan." He turned to Rin. "Keep an eye on their chakra too." He said before flickering out of sight. Rin and I looked at each other and nodded doing the same.

We surrounded the three men, only a few feet away in each direction. I could see both Minato-Sensei and Rin clearly, waiting for my signal to attack. I held my fist up, instructing them to hold while I listened to their conversation.

...

"I don't know if we should do this." The first man said, he had blue hair that seemed to not know which direction it wanted to go, a long thin sword on his back. That could be a challenge.

"Quit your whining, we have to finish this mission." This man had slicked back white hair that went well past his shoulders down the middle of his back. I couldn't see any significant weapons on him, but he wore a black cloak so there is no telling what was under it.

"Both of you shut up, someone could hear us." The third man had short red hair, neatly kept back in a small ponytail. He was holding a blade, leaving it resting on his shoulder.

They turned away to start walking, they were headed in the outpost direction.

I released my fist and Minato-Sensei flickered from the tree down to the ground behind the three men.

"Hey guys, where are you off to?" The man with the red hair turned to look at him. The other two following in suit.

"Nice to see you again Minato! It's been a few years hasn't it." The man laughed tapping himself on the shoulder with his blade.

Did sensei know these guys? Why didn't he say something before?

"Has it already been that long Kurokawa? It feels like just yesterday that I took those 2 fingers from your hand." Minato-Sensei was grinning. I couldn't tell if they were being friendly or if he was egging this man on to fight him.

Kurokawa's smile disappeared. "Ah yes, I still owe you for that." He was suddenly serious, flexing the three fingers on his left hand. "Now..."

"Why don't you tell your kids to come out and play with us."


	12. Hiding in Plain Sight

They knew we were here; we may as well come out and face them.

As I was about to jump down, Minato-Sensei held his fist up and spoke. "I don't think that is necessary, we aren't trying to engage in anything, I just want to understand this mission of yours. It does seem strange that the blood mist village would travel this far into our territory without notice you see."

The man with the blue hair had his hand on the handle of his blade on his back. "C'mon captain, let's just take this guy out already." He said excitedly. This guy had no self-control and it was obvious. "Shut up Okura!" the white haired one spoke up. Those two seemed to be the arguing type, how annoying.

"We just wanted to check on some of your friends Minato. You know how these war missions can be." Kurokawa sighed. "We don't need to shed any unnecessary blood here." He went to turn away as if saying that the conversation was over.

Rin's voice suddenly rang through the trees "KAKASHI BEHIND YOU."

AGHHHH

I felt the slice of something ripping through my shoulder blade just as I was moving out of the way, the tip of his sword must have caught me. How did I not see Okura move? I glanced down at the ground gripping my shoulder in pain. He was still down there, but he was smiling up at me with deep green eyes before his body collapsed into a puddle.

A water clone. 

Rin appeared behind me, her hands pushing against my wound. "It's deep Kakashi, how did you not see him?" She almost sounded angry with me. "I'm sorry, I thought I had my eyes on him the whole time." She was trying to heal the gash enough to stop the bleeding, but before she could finish I roundhouse kicked behind me, just above her head and landed a blow to the side of Okura's face, sending him flying to the ground with a loud smash.

...

Minato-Sensei was still standing below us, but he now was ready to fight the other two men. "Leave them alone, I can take all three of you myself." He was smirking, I couldn't call his bluff, no doubt he had marked the trees nearby for his flying reijin, making him the fastest man here, not to mention his special kunai.

"Well if it has to come to this..." Kurokawa sighed. "I guess I have to let Ishii here take all of your lives." With that the white-haired man, Ishii, moved his hands quickly signing his next move. Suddenly a thick cloud of mist rolled through the forest, it was thick enough that you couldn't even see your own hand in front of your face. Rin had replaced her hands onto my shoulder blade after my kick, I bought her more time to heal me, but it wouldn't be enough to fully fix it, I would have to deal with it. "Thank you, Rin, I think I can handle it now." I said, shrugging my shoulder, rotating my arm and getting a feel for the pain. It would have to do, we had to guard against attacks.

Minato-Sensei yelled up to us "Trust your instincts!". We both knew what he meant without him having to be specific, the enemy didn't know what skills we had, and they didn't seem to notice my sharingan either, if they did, they would have known that there was no point in visual impairment. Rin had her eyes closed, focusing on the enemy's chakra patterns. She wasn't practiced enough to be able to detect their forms when they were moving, but that didn't matter since I could see them when they got in range.

...

"These brats won't take much Ishii; can't I just do it?" Okura's voice was somewhere in the distance. He got no response. I threw a shuriken to my left as I backed up against the tree trunk, the front of the branch I was standing on snapped where I had just been standing. "Ah, you saw me coming did you?" Ishii's voice was close. I looked upward slightly, but not noticeably enough for anyone who would have been watching. There he was, standing about 10 feet above me with his arms crossed. "It's been awhile since someone caught on to me that quickly." I flickered out of sight and appeared next to him, swinging my kunai at his head. He ducked out of the way, kicking one leg out at my feet as I jumped and grabbed the branch above me. I flipped my legs up to the underside of the branch that I was holding and pushed off with my kunai blade pointing toward Ishii. He moved quickly and I broke the branch in half, landing on the one Rin was standing on again.

"You okay?" I asked her. She nodded; eyes still closed. "Minato-Sensei is fighting Kurokawa, I can't tell who is winning, they are moving incredibly fast."

I suddenly remembered that Okura was somewhere as well, and with his unstable personality, he more than likely wouldn't stay hidden long and when he did strike, Rin was the only open target. I must stay close to her so I can defend if needed.

I felt air whoosh past my right ear as I moved my head slightly. A tree in the distance splintered and part of it collapsed. I could hear a chuckling behind me somewhere. "How is it that you can sense such intense movements?" Ishii appeared in front of me smirking. "Ahh...You possess a sharingan? You must be an Uchiha then. How exciting."

He slashed at me with what looked like small blades under his cloak sleeve as I jumped backwards, still standing in front of Rin. The man cackled "You know kid, I've killed a few of your clan in my time." He took a few steps toward me, I could see the points of the blades poking out of his sleeves, there were five on each hand which meant that they were part of his fingers.

...

I took a quick look around for Okura who still hadn't shown his face. I couldn't detect him at all, and I couldn't ask Rin right now either without giving away my next move. I had to trust that he was either fighting Minato-Sensei or laying low with his own plan. "Actually, I'm not an Uchiha at all." I said as I crouched down. "I'm just your worst nightmare." I sprung into the air and threw a handful of shuriken at Ishii to get him away from Rin and chase after me instead. He took the bait and I could see him moving quickly toward me as I jumped from branch to branch, in a circle around the clearing. I kept my eyes on Rin who still had her eyes closed, focusing on the chakra around her. I knew if something changed that she would call out, but I had to let her do her own thing right now.

I was jumping in strange patterns around the forest, dodging the occasional shuriken and throwing one of my own in return each time to show that I was still interested in the chase. "Come on kid enough running, you aren't scared are ya?" his voice was so gruff, like he had something stuck in his throat. We were only running for about 60 seconds, but he seemed to be sick of it already. I found my way back to Rin and landed on the branch that she was still standing on, Ishii stopped a few behind me. I leaned over and whispered into her ear; "Rin, do you sense Okura?" She nodded. "approximately 60 feet south-east. I don't know what he's doing, he isn't moving". So, he does have a plan, he's just letting us fight our battles first.

That was fine with me, my fight wish Ishii was about to be over anyway. I noticed when he was chasing me that he wasn't as fast as he wanted us to believe, if he was, he could have easily caught up to me and attacked. That must be why he relies on his mist jutsu so heavily, because it gives the illusion that he is extremely fast when his movements are just hidden from his enemy. My sharingan is going to be my most useful tool.

...

I jumped away from Rin and onto the ground and ran about 20 feet away from the clearing and into the forest. Minato-Sensei and Kurokawa were still in the heat of battle, it looked like sensei could have the upper hand though. I turned my attention to Ishii who had come down to face me. "What is the point of this mist if I can see you through it?" I said with a cocky attitude, hoping to agitate him slightly. "It's not like you're going to beat me anyway."

He looked angry, but the scar stretching from his right eye diagonally to the left side of his chin made it a little difficult to read his facial expressions, he kind of always looked agitated. "Is that so? Well why don't you just get on with it then." He crouched down in a defensive position as if waiting for me to attack. I just shoved my hands into my pockets and stood there, leaving myself wide open. "Why don't you make the first move this time. I wont even use my hands." I shrugged my shoulders. 

His smile wrinkled the corners of his eyes, I noticed the razor sharpness of his teeth for the first time since we met him. "You just lost this fight kid." He lunged at me, his 'claws' ready to swipe into my body. I kicked off the ground and flipped sideways over him, landing in the spot that he was just standing a moment ago. A shuriken whizzed past my head as I tilted it slightly to the left. I felt the same small gust of air rush past my right arm at the same time, barely missing the fabric of my sleeve.

"Water bullets aren't going to be enough to kill me." I sighed as he kicked off a tree lunging at me again. I dipped my body backwards till I was laying on the ground, my hands still in my pockets, I kicked my knee upward as hard as I could just as he was above me, sending him upward with a loud grunt. I flickered away and then above him, kicking the heel of my foot down against the middle of his back, sending him hurling back to the ground with a loud crack.

I landed in front of where he was laying, trying to catch his breath on the ground. "What...did you...do to ...me". He spoke while gasping between breaths. "Nothing really, I just focused the chakra in my body to my feet, so when I kicked you, I disrupted your chakra network". I smiled down at him. "Just something I picked up from a friend." My friend back home from the academy had taught me how to infuse chakra into weapons, and although I had no weapons to use, I was very good at fighting with my legs because of my speed. "I think we're done here." I put my foot next to his face and gave it a nice swift kick to knock him out.

Alright, I think it's time I checked on Rin again.

At that same moment I heard her through the trees.

"KAKASHI!". Her scream was echoing around the forest as the mist was beginning to lift as I leaped back to the tree that she had been standing on.

"RIN WHERE ARE YOU?" I shouted. Quickly scanning the area nearby trying to catch a glimpse of her. About 50 feet away, just past where Minato-Sensei had been just a few minutes ago, was Rin laying on the ground, her face turned toward me; Okura's foot pushing down on her head.

He was smiling, which made him look even crazier than before. His focus was on me only, which meant that Minato-Sensei wasn't nearby anymore.

He smiled at me, tilting his head to the left and staring at me with those dark green eyes that seemed to look right through me.

"Time's up."


	13. Too Much

"K-Kashi just go!" Rin gasped.

Her voice was weak. I had no idea how long he had her or what he had done before I had shown up, but she seemed like she had been fighting. Her face was pale, almost ghost white against the purple steaks on her cheeks.

What should I do?

I need to come up with a plan and fast or else he could kill her. Okura had her in the perfect place, he was just toying with me until he felt that the game was over. I could see the sense of excitement on his face. He looked almost like a serpent with his narrow cheekbones and rough skin. His eyes seemed to constantly be moving, but that could be the excitement getting the best of him.

"Why don't you just fight me? Let her go." I said. I needed him to take the bait like Ishii did, it would give me an opportunity to evaluate his skills and come up with a plan.

I have no idea where Minato-Sensei is or if he's even fighting Kurokawa anymore, so until he gets here, I need to handle this.   
"Come on Okura, just me and you." I crouched down and put a hand on the ground, feeling the dirt and grass between my fingers.

He looked in my direction with a sickening grin. "I said...Time is UP."   
Okura jumped into the air suddenly.

He's fast.

Rin was trying to pull herself up the minute the weight left her head. She had small cuts all up the side that had been against the ground. I launched myself at her as fast as I could so that I could grab her, I had to get her somewhere safe, away from Okura.   
Minato-Sensei needed to hurry, I needed him to either fight or watch over Rin while I fought. She was too weak to be on her own during a battle and I wouldn't let him get her again.

I reached out my hand and at the same time there was a light gleam above Rin's head.

"RIN GRAB MY HAND!" I screamed. My hand wrapped around her wrist as I planted my left hand on the ground and threw her behind me and out of the way. Okura's blade sliced downward through the air and right through my left hand, the thin blade planting into the ground and restricting me from moving.

"AHHHHHHGGG" I fell onto my left side unable to move. The pain was excruciating, and I could feel the blood running down my fingers. I couldn't even bare to open my eyes and look at my hand. I was losing a lot of blood and it was making me dizzy.

I opened my eyes and looked to where I had thrown Rin, she was sitting against a tree across the clearing trying to pull herself together, I don't think she even noticed what happened to me yet. Her eyes were glazed over like she was completely unaware of reality, maybe that's for the best right now.

A snickering from the trees above me got my attention. I had almost forgotten that Okura was hiding again, he really has a way of distracting me.   
"Isn't my blade beautiful?" He said before jumping back into sight, landing straight onto his blade causing it to shove further into the ground through my hand.

"Mrphhhhh" I grunted, biting my bottom lip. I was trying to not show the pain that he just caused. I took a silent breath before speaking. "It's an okay sword." Is all I could manage to say without screaming. I felt like I was under water, every sound sounded slightly muffled.

I could hear Okura laughing above me "You wouldn't believe what this 'okay sword' can do." Hopping down and landing next to me, he crouched down so that we were almost eye level. "For example, It is slowly sucking your chakra through your hand...when it's done..."

I'll be dead.

His face lit up. He knew that I had already come to that conclusion. "Hmmm, you already knew that didn't you...smart kid." He stood up and started walking in Rin's direction. "Since you're preoccupied, I think I'll go have some fun with your friend over there." I looked over at her, she was staring at me, eyes full of tears and fear. When had she noticed what had happened? She was obviously still too weak to move, but I could see her lips moving. She was trying to speak to me, but I couldn't hear her. I needed to stop him, but how...

I was going to have to pull myself over to the handle of the sword and get it out of my hand, it was the only option even though it didn't seem like I was going to be able to do it. I needed to protect Rin though.

I started with my right arm, trying to reach it forward to grab the ground.

Nothing.

I couldn't move it other than a few inches. This was going to take much longer than I had hoped, I'll never get to her in time. I looked back; Okura was in front of her, I watched as he wrapped a hand around her throat, standing her up against the tree.

Damnit, MOVE.

Still nothing happened. Rin had blood dripping down her chin and Okura was speaking to her, but I still couldn't hear the words. I have to move, I have to get up, he's going to kill her. I closed my eyes; I could feel the stinging tears rolling down my cheeks. I could barely feel my left hand anymore, I just couldn't watch him kill her. This is all my fault, if only I had stayed close to her.

...

"AGGGHHHH" I screamed suddenly as I felt the blade sliding through my hand. The numbness was gone and all that was left was searing pain once again. I was gasping for air and trying to regain some control over my body, I could tell that the chakra that had been flowing out through my hand had stopped and my hearing was coming back. This must have all been a side effect of chakra draining, not just loss of blood.

"Kakashi..." Someone was kneeling in front of me...Minato-Sensei? "Go...get...Rin..." I looked up just as Minato-Sensei collapsed on the ground. He was beat up and bloody, but he had managed to wrap a ripped piece of cloth around my hand with the last of his energy, I didn't even feel him do it.

I pulled my left hand to my body, still laying where I had been as my senses were coming back. I looked over to Rin and Okura again, she looked almost lifeless in his grasp, his mouth against her right ear. My hearing was suddenly coming back rapidly as I felt rage rising through my body looking at them. I could hear him speaking into her ear.

"Don't go to sleep yet...You should be watching your boyfriend die." He snickered.

He hadn't noticed anything going on behind him yet. My blood was boiling throughout my body as I was using my right hand to push myself up off the ground. Rin was looking directly at me and if she could see me, she didn't make it known to me or Okura, but based on her eyes, she couldn't see anything more than a few feet in front of her. I pushed myself to my feet; my left hand was completely useless, I almost couldn't move my left arm, but the rest of my body was suddenly just fine. My rage was taking over.

I had one shot at this, and I didn't think I was going to miss. No...I knew I wasn't going to miss.

I focused all my chakra into my right hand, holding the best I could onto my bicep to keep my arm steady. I could feel the rush through my body as the sparks on my hand started to quickly build up, they were traveling up my arm in a matter of seconds.

My eyes were set on Okura as I pushed off the ground below me, rushing toward him at a speed I didn't even know I could manage normally, let alone injured. I hardly noticed the chakra in my hand rapidly changing, getting thinner on my fingertips, smoother...

He turned just as my hand was about to slice through his body, but instead skimmed right across the front of his chest, between him and Rin and right into the side of the tree that he had been holding her against; splintering it like a miniature explosion.

I felt Rin's body fall against my side as Okura let go of her. "Ka...Kashi?" Is all she said before falling to the ground next to me.

I turned and looked at Okura on my left, he was holding onto his chest with both arms, blood soaking the ground where he was kneeling, I must have made quite the gash. "YOU LITTLE SHIT." He was screaming and gasping. "HOW...DID YOU...GET UP." I didn't care about him, I hoped he would collapse from blood loss.

I closed my eyes catching my breath, what was up with my Chidori? It felt different than it had before and it shouldn't have cut through him like that...almost like a blade.

Rin...

I almost forgot for a moment. Thank god I had gotten here in time. I crouched down and turned to her. She was out cold laying on her right side, she must have used up almost all of her chakra just to stay awake long enough for me to get over here.

"You screwed...up...Kid". Okura, still gasping for air behind me said. I looked at him. "What do you mean!" I was yelling at him.

He was just trying to mess with me again, another game for him to play. He let out a small laugh "Look...closer...kid." That was all he could get out before falling forward onto the ground trying to reserve the last of his energy.

I looked back at Rin. She was completely in one piece, no gaping holes, or missing limbs. Her back was rising and falling so she was breathing. I needed to move her and get her back to Minato-Sensei, I needed to evaluate the damage done to him as well, I was the only one who still had any strength left. Although, that wasn't saying much. The last of my chakra was used in that jutsu so if there is any fight to be had, I was finished.

I crouched down next to Rin and wrapped my arm around her torso, pulling her up enough that I could slide my shoulder under her chest to carry her on my back. I grunted and winced at the pain that was running through my body. This was going to be a rough recovery. I felt the warm sweat dripping onto my shoulder from Rin's face, she was going to be exhausted when she woke up, the amount of chakra that she used up wasn't going to be corrected with one day of sleep.

I looked down at my shoulder that she was resting her head on.

Blood. That's not my blood...

I suddenly couldn't breathe...my heart was racing as I looked at the right side of Rin's face. She had a deep blood-soaked slice from the middle of her cheek diagonally up the side of her head leaving a bald stripe and...her ear was sliced at the top, it was completely gone.

I...did...this? But how...? My Chidori couldn't have...

I had to get her over to Minato-Sensei, I needed to stop the bleeding.

I carefully ran across the clearing, Minato-Sensei was awake when I got to him. He was trying to lift himself up on his forearms, blood soaking his forehead, chin, and hands. "Sensei! You're okay!" I said with a panicked voice. He nodded his head slightly, still looking at the ground trying to steady his breathing. "I will...be." His tone was very hushed.

"Sensei..." I said as I laid Rin down in front of him, the injured side of her face exposed. He looked up enough to catch a glimpse of her, his eyes shooting open as if he just gained all his energy back in one short moment. "Kakashi...What happened to her..." I felt as if he was accusing me. "Okura didn't have his sword; how did she get those injuries..."

My eyes were stinging, tears building up once again. "I...I don't know...I mean." I looked him in the eye, his face was more concern than anything. "I did it..." I said, tears now flowing down my face. "I don't know how Sensei, my Chidori..." He stopped me from saying anything further.

"Kakashi...that couldn't have been your Chidori. That is a clean slice." I knew that. I had no idea what had happened, I noticed something different, but what was it.

"We can't worry about that right now though." He said. "We need to tend to her wounds and get to the outpost. Kurokawa won't be an issue and I assume neither will the other two." I helped him up to his feet so that he could steady himself and regain some strength. He tore a long piece of cloth from his undershirt and wrapped it around Rin's head, covering the gash and her ear to try and clot the blood even a little bit.

Once she was bandaged, we got her onto my back so that we could head to the outpost.

After a couple of miles walking, we heard voices ahead of us. Another ambush? No, we couldn't handle that.

"ARE YOU GUYS ALRIGHT?" There was a man yelling through the trees. I couldn't see him; my vision was blurry from the amount of chakra I had used. "YEAH OVER HERE..." I heard Minato-Sensei say weakly next to me before seeing him collapse next to me. "MINATO-SEN...s...e..." I felt darkness take over and the sensation of falling, Rin's weight on my back helping gravity pull me down.

"Don't worry we've got you now..." I voice above me said. "GET THE OTHERS YOU TWO! GET THE MEDICAL TEAM HERE PRONTO" I could only hear now, my eyes closed as I was slipping out of consciousness.

"You're going to be okay..." Is all I heard as everything went silent.


	14. I'm Afraid

I had woken up the next morning. My chakra was fully replenished from the short rest, and my hand bandaged nicely along with a few other places on my body. We were all taken back to Konoha and admitted to the hospital shortly after we had been found in the forest by our comrades at the outpost. Minato-Sensei and Rin hadn't woken up for about 3 days after I had, and Rin wasn't speaking to anyone. It hadn't made me uneasy at the time, but I wasn't shocked when she would deny my visitation requests either. She had to stay in the hospital for a week before she was released, and I had tried twice a day to see her.

Minato-Sensei wasn't so distant, he came with me almost every day to check on Rin and although he was turned away as well, he was able to see her when he would come with Lord Third. They had to collect Intel on what the ninja from the Mist had wanted or what they were planning, so I didn't know if that was the reason that she let him in, or if it was because I wasn't there.

I didn't see Rin for an entire 3 months after she was released, and I left her alone after Minato-Sensei said that she wasn't herself after she had woken up, that it was for the best to just let her work through her feelings alone. I could understand that, and I wanted to respect her wishes but after a while, it was getting to be too much for me, so I went to her house to find her. I never expected her to be the one to answer the door and the moment she saw me, she immediately started crying.

"Kakashi..." she was staring at me, tears making her eyes glisten in the sunlight. I always hated seeing her cry, it broke my heart.

"Rin, I..." but she interrupted me before I could finish.

"No". She said as she wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "This is goodbye, I'm sorry". She began closing the door and I held my hand up between it and the door frame.

"What...? What do you mean Rin?" I stuttered. "I just wanted...I wanted to see how you were..."

Her eyes were still wet from the tears. Her face had suddenly gotten much more serious. "No...You don't understand...I don't want to see you." She was almost yelling. "Don't you get it Kakashi?! I'm TERRIFIED of you".

My face was flushed of all color, I felt like I was going to be sick. I looked at her, examining her face as I was trying to make sense of what she had just said. She can't be afraid of me...

My eyes drifted to the side of her head, her ear had healed over and was almost completely flat on the top, and I noticed the scar that trailed from the side of her head down her face. I hadn't expected to see her injuries still, I don't know why. There was no way that the damage I had done would have healed any other way.

She needed to be afraid of me, maybe it would save her life, I could have killed her on that mission simply because I couldn't control my anger.

"Please, just...go...I don't want to see you anymore..." I removed my hand from he door and let her close it.

My heart was broken, but I had done this to myself and I had to accept that. I turned away from her house and walked in the direction of home. I had gotten my answers. The thing is, I knew it was coming. In the back of my mind I had known something like this was going to happen, but I never imagined that she would be afraid of me.

I felt tears filling my eyes. I was supposed to protect her...I was supposed to be the one that would always be there to keep her safe, but I always seem to be the one that hurts her instead. She was better off without me in her life.

With that final thought, I decided that I would forget about her. The way that I had known her before no longer could exist, for her safety.

...

I had arrived home without even realizing how far I had walked having been trapped in my own thoughts. I walked in and went straight to my room; I didn't even bother taking off my clothes for the day. I threw myself down on my bed and kicked my shoes onto the floor, staring at my bedroom ceiling. I must shut my emotions down from here on out, I will only be hurting myself otherwise.

I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

I never could have imagined what all of this would cause in the coming years, how different my life would be changing and how drastically. Time has never been one to heal my wounds, and it wasn't going to start now.

I couldn't keep myself awake with these thought's any longer, I let myself slip into unconsciousness.

Once again, Obito and Rin taking over my dreams.


	15. Worth It

I hate flashbacks.

That day... that mission... it's going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

"I'm terrified of you"

The tone of her voice, the tears, and the fear in her eyes will forever be engraved into my memory; but she was still here and Obito wasn't and that's why he was the one to plague my dreams still three years later.

I stood there looking at myself in the bathroom mirror a little bit longer before going to get dressed for the day. I had a meeting with the Hokage this afternoon and I needed to pull myself together before then, he already knew that I was a mess of a person, but I didn't need to give him another reason to worry about me. He always tells Minato-Sensei my condition and I wasn't feeling much like facing him today. "I really hope this isn't anything to worry about..." I thought out loud while pulling my shoes on.

...

The morning air was cool against the exposed part of my face reminding me that the year was coming to an end. I haven't been keeping tabs on the time passing over the past year, I wasn't doing anything exciting enough to compel me to do so. Seasons changed without me even realizing it, holidays came and went, I just kept going forward through it all.

I walked through the village with my hands in my pockets, taking in the silence of the early morning. Most people were just getting out of bed as the sun began to peek over the great stone faces. This was always my favorite time of day; I could get in some morning exercises before anyone got to the training grounds. I kept a steady pace, taking a long route to get to my destination this morning. I had plenty of time to kill before I had to be responsible.

"KAKASHI!" A voice screamed from somewhere behind me.

Why was he awake so early?

Guy came jogging up next to me. "Kakashi, where are you headed so early?" He had that glint in his eyes. I loathed him, but he could be considered my best friend. We were "lifelong rivals" as he called us, always trying to compete against me and win, regardless of what the challenge was.

"What do you want Guy?" I said sighing and closing my eyes, keeping my pace as he jogged beside me matching my walking speed.

I could feel his smile without even looking at him. "What do you say to a little competition!" his enthusiasm was killing me, there goes my peaceful morning. "A little race to the training grounds, I'm sure that's where you're headed correct?" His voice was so brash. I looked over to him, his strange bowl cut black hair...the weird all green body suit that he always wore.

Sigh

"Alright Guy." I stopped and crouched down, putting my gloved hands on the ground and getting into sprinting position. "Let's get this done with." I said. I might as well get this over with for the day. It would be good speed training as well; it was always easier to train this way with another person.

His face lit up like he was expecting me to blow him off. "WOOOO! I WILL DEFEAT YOU WITH THE POWER OF YOUTH!" He got into position. "GO!" He screamed as we both took off quickly down the road ahead of us.

I jumped onto a nearby roof, keeping my speed as I sprinted over the houses. Guy was to the lower left of me sliding down a railing. He was keeping the low ground, weaving in and out of alleyways. Surprisingly he never lost speed through the sharp turns that he had to make, occasionally grabbing onto a balcony and pushing off the side of some of the houses to gain momentum.

I see what his plan was, if he was able to use the chakra built up in his feet to kick off hard enough, he would easily get ahead of me even though I had a straight shot from the rooftops. Smart move my friend. I slid down the side of an especially steep roof of a building, landing on a bridge over the river. Guy was in an alley behind me and would have to cross the bridge to get to the forest ahead.

I jumped from the edge landing on the water below, focusing my chakra into my feet so that I could stand on the water just out of sight from where he would be crossing. I uncovered my left eye and exposed my sharingan, I looked out toward where guy had been. The outline of his body moving unbelievably quick between the buildings just before the bridge. Guy had known that the moment he was out in the open he would have the advantage, building up enough momentum to fly past me, but I had a plan. I crouched near the side of the bridge, focusing chakra into the palms of my hands.

...NOW

I jumped and pushed the palms of my hands against the exposed edge of the bridge, flipping my body up at the same time that Guy's body was rushing past the same spot, landing a kick straight into his stomach, propelling him up into the air with a huge gust of air. I landed on the top edge of the bridge looking straight up. Maybe I took that a little too far...his speed matched with the strength of that kick was going to send him really high into the air. Shit, I need to make sure he's going to be okay.

In that moment I saw his body rushing right back at me, headfirst looking down at me. His face beet red, temples pulsating on the sides of his head.

SHIT. HE'S FINE.

"SECOND GATE OPEN, GATE OF HEALING!" He was speeding toward me remarkably fast, I barely had a chance to move out of the way and slide off the bridge on my back as he smashed part of the wooden bridge to smithereens, splinters shooting out in every direction and Guy straight into the water below him. He must have at least clipped me on the leg because I could feel the bruise already starting to form on my shin. Damnit my sharingan wasn't even fast enough to completely save me from his attack.

"WHAT A CHEAP SHOT KAKASHI!" He yelled from the river. He was right, but he got me back, so I didn't feel bad about it anymore.

"WHAT ABOUT YOU?! YOU OPENED THE SECOND GATE ON ME!" I yelled right back at him as I got to my feet walking over to where the bridge had been destroyed. I looked down at him as he was brushing himself off. He sighed and jumped up next to me. "This is why you're my lifelong rival Kakashi." He brought his fist up to me. I did the same and we knocked our fists together. "I think we can call this one a tie". I said smiling at him, although I'm sure he couldn't tell with my mask covering my face. I pulled my headband back over my left eye.

He smiled back at me. "I suppose you're right. I have some things that I need to attend to now anyway."

"Until next time". I lowered my fist and placed my hands back into my pockets and turned to walk back toward the training grounds. "But you're paying for the bridge." I said with a smirk. I think I heard him laugh before he disappeared back into the alleys of the village.

I sighed. Yeah, I guess he is my best friend. Although, I could never admit that to him. He would get too much gratification from hearing that, can't let Guy have a bigger ego than he already does.

...

It was getting to brighter as the sun had washed over the village, everyone was out and had already started their days by the time Guy and I had parted ways. I didn't realize how much time had passed during our little competition and I'm not sure that I was going to have any time to train before my meeting with Lord Third. I redirected myself and headed toward his office, if I took my time, I wouldn't have to worry about being too early.

I walked through one of the smaller districts, on the outer edges of the village. This area had a lot of shops that sold goods collected from around the nations by shinobi during their travels. They would give the items to families that owned businesses in this district so that they could get some money for the items. This is what I loved about Konoha, everybody looked out for each other, asking nothing in return.

I walked by a small shop, baskets of shiny jewelry lining the shelves throughout the small building, some beautiful home décor pieces hanging on the walls. "Kakashi!" A small voice called from inside.

"Hey there Kora!" I said as the little girl ran up to me giving me a big hug. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "How's my favorite girl doing?" I smiled down at her when she let go of me and backed up a few steps.

She giggled. "I've been working on my chakra control!" She said proudly. "Do you want to see?!" Excitement seemed to be bursting out of her tiny body from all angles. She was 5 years old, beautiful blonde hair that waved down her back and bright green eyes just like her mother. I've been coming by the shop since the day she was born. Her mother had known my father, they were childhood friends and she had made me promise after my father died that I would continue to come visit. So, when Kora was born, I made sure to keep that promise and came by at least once or twice a month depending on my missions. I watched this kid grow up and since she learned to talk, she told me that she wanted to be just like me when she grew up. If only she knew how badly I hoped that she wouldn't. That didn't stop me from teaching her the basics of being a ninja though.

"Of course!" I said happily. I loved watching her show me her newly developed skills. She would be top of her class at the academy when she attended in the spring if she kept it up.

Her face turned from a smiling mess to completely focused. She closed her eyes and let her arms hang at her sides taking a deep breath before bawling her right fist. I saw a small glow on her tiny hand moments before her fist met my stomach, knocking the air out of me. I wasn't expecting a sucker punch from the tiny child, let alone something that would have any impact. She quickly crouched down and swiped her foot at my ankles, knocking me to the ground with a thud. Damn she was getting strong.

"KAKASHI ARE YOU OKAY?" Kora's mother's voice sounding panicked came from behind me. She ran up and stopped with her hands on her hips. "Kora! What did I tell you about picking on him?"

I laughed as I got back to my feet. "It's okay Ms. Kitsaku, I'm perfectly fine. Kora was just showing me some of her new moves." I reached over and ruffled Kora's hair. "Good job! You're going to surpass me one day if you keep it up kiddo!" She grumbled at the title. She hates when I call her a kid.

"I'm not a kid anymore y'know!" She shouted at me and I couldn't help to laugh. "You'll always be a kid too me KIDDO." I emphasized the last part to annoy her. She was an awesome child, the closest thing to a sister that I would ever have. "I do have to get going though, I have a meeting with Lord Third to attend." I smiled and grabbed her into another hug. "I'll be back soon to visit, and we can spend some more time together, okay?" She let out a sigh of disappointment. "I wish I could meet the Hokage." She said.

I pushed her away again, crouching down to her level and holding onto her shoulders. "Well, one day you will, but one day you'll be Hokage and kids will want to meet you too". I said with a smile. I really hope that she would hold onto that dream for the rest of her childhood. She had so much potential, she could be anything she wanted. She seemed to like my answer because she nodded her head before turning to run back into the shop. A hand fell on my shoulder as I stood up. "Thank you Kakashi." Ms. Kitsaku said before following her daughter inside.

I turned to leave once again. I wasted enough time here that I would have to hurry to the Hokage's office if I didn't want to be late.

Who am I kidding? He knew I wouldn't be on time...

Just getting lost on the path of life again.


	16. Happy Birthday

I arrived, probably an hour late, to the Hokage's office. The door was already cracked open when I approached the threshold.

"Come in Kakashi." He said as I walked through the door and took a knee, bowing before standing back up, meeting Lord Third's gaze. "I apologize for being late." I said. He already had expected it, but I always apologized out of respect.

His face was starting to age ever so slightly, wrinkles spreading lightly along the corners of his eyes. "No need for that, I have a mission for you." He was quite serious, not that it was any different from the usual, but this time it felt different.

There was a knock on the door behind me. "Come in you two, thank you for joining us." I didn't even have to turn around to know who was behind me. Her smell had never changed from the first day that we met, I don't know if it was perfume of some sort or if she always just smelled like cherry blossoms. "Thank you for having us Lord Hokage" Rin said. Her voice had matured since the last time I had seen her. I stood still as she walked to my right side before bowing respectfully, Minato-Sensei appeared on my left doing the same.

Why were they here? Surely, he didn't think...

Lord Hokage cleared his throat. "I need the three of you for an important mission." He was looking directly at me as if the others didn't exist. He was trying to gauge my reaction to what he just said, but I kept the same stone straight face, making sure not to so much as wince. "It is a low-profile mission, but important none the less." He turned and was looking at Minato-Sensei now. "I need you to deliver a scroll to the village hidden in the sand, they are waiting to exchange intel with us. You three will go and make the exchange." He stood and crossed his hands behind his back.

"Understood." Minato-Sensei spoke for the first time since entering. "We head out in the morning team. Meet at the gate before sunrise." His voice was stern, as if he expected one of us to argue. He wasn't wrong to think so.

I got onto one knee again, bowing my head toward Lord Third. "Sir, with all due respect, I request to be excluded and replaced on this mission." I kept my head down as I spoke, showing him that I was serious.

"Kakashi. Stand up." Minato-Sensei spoke with the same stern tone as before. "You will not disrespect the Hokage's orders." I didn't move, letting the silence between the Hokage and I intensify. I acted as if I didn't hear my Sensei speak to me a moment ago. I couldn't let this happen, but I also had to be professional about it if I had any chance of him considering my request.

I could feel him looking at the top of my head. "Do you believe this to be the best course of action Kakashi?" I rose my head to meet his gaze. "Yes, I'm sorry Lord Hokage, but even with such a simple mission, I cannot guarantee it's success on my own behalf." I could hear Rin breathing unevenly as if she was going to start sobbing, but I couldn't look over at her. "I feel that someone else would be a better fit." I continued.

He turned and looked out the large windows behind him, looking out over the village. "I suppose that could be arranged." A shocked look crossed my face as I bowed my head again. "Thank you Lord Third."

"You are dismissed Kakashi. Thank you for your time." I stood and nodded even though he couldn't see me. I snuck a glance at Rin out of the corner of my eye as I turned to leave. A single tear had run down her left cheek, her head looking toward the floor. I don't have any idea if she was upset or relieved, but I felt that I had made the right decision. A hand grabbed my right shoulder as I headed for the door. "Meet me at the training grounds." Minato-Sensei said quietly enough that only I could hear him.

I was in huge trouble.

...

I hurried to the training grounds, the last thing that I needed was Sensei being mad that I wasn't there when he arrived, even if he wasn't going to make it until after me anyway. I threw myself down on the grass in the clearing and folded my hands behind my head. I looked up at the clouds and sighed. What a mess I just created for myself. I don't want to abandon my former teammates, but I also didn't think it would be a good idea for Rin and I to do a mission together, we didn't even know each other anymore. If it hadn't been for the same purple markings on her cheeks, I may not have recognized her. Three years really makes a difference when you haven't seen someone. Her hair had grown significantly, flowing over her shoulders. She had to be almost a foot taller than she was before too, she was almost the same height as me now. I'm about 5'6" which is tall for a 13-year-old.

I didn't realize how much time had passed, I must have drifted to asleep while staring at the sky, because I felt a soft kick to my ribs and noticeably jumped. "Kakashi, get to your feet." Minato-Sensei was staring down at me and he looked frustrated. I pulled myself to my feet and shoved my hands into my pockets meeting his gaze. "What were you thinking back there? Do you know how that looked?" He was clearly angry about how I acted toward the Hokage and I could understand why. It was disrespectful of me to challenge his commands.

"Sensei, I can't...No, I won't make Rin go through having to work that closely with me for the week that that mission would take." I said with a bit of sass. He knew why I denied the mission. Minato-Sensei glared at me. "You could have waited until we were dismissed. She didn't need to see that."

He wasn't talking about the Hokage. He was talking about Rin. I was confused. "What do you mean? Why does it matter." I scoffed. "I don't need this, I'm done here." I turned to leave. I had turned off those feelings long ago, even when I saw the tear on her face back at the Hokage's office, I felt nothing.

"Are you that cut off Kakashi? I thought you were better than that." He said behind me. His tone had softened. I turned and looked over my shoulder at him. "I stopped giving a damn a long time ago Sensei, this isn't anything new." I turned and walked toward the trees, heading away from home and toward the mountains along the edge of the village. The only place that I could ever find peace, my sanctuary.

I jumped through the trees trying not to think of what just had happened. What did he know anyway? He didn't have to suffer the way that I did the past few years. I only saw Sensei when we had missions or when we were put on the same patrol, but I was good at putting on a front that I was fine.

A flash of yellow passed my left side, Minato-Sensei landing on a branch a few feet ahead of me. I stopped and stared at him. "What do you even want?" I said. His stare was cold, and he was holding a large envelope in his left hand. "Happy Birthday, Kakashi." He said, holding the envelope out in front of him.

Happy Birthday?

I had forgotten my own Birthday. Not that it mattered. Fourteen years old felt just like the same as all the other years. I stepped forward and took the envelope from him. "What's this?" I said. It was clasped closed with a string wrapping around it. "Take a look when you get to where you're going." He wasn't done being angry with me, but he wasn't fighting me anymore either. "Take care of yourself, come to me when you're ready." With that he disappeared back into the forest.

I headed forward until I could see the rough rock wall through the trees. As I reached the edge of the forest, I climbed to the top of the tallest tree. A small waterfall was flowing down the side of the mountain wall in front of me, I quickly jumped the small gap between the branch and the water, breaking through to the other side and into a cave like tunnel. This was the only place that I could go where nobody would find me, my father showed it to me when I was very young, just as his father had shown him. I walked deeper into the cave until I could see light peeking through a narrow opening in the rocks. It was wide enough to slide sideways through to get to the other side.

There it was, the best view that anyone could ask for. The cave opened and looked out over the entire forest that surrounded the back side of Konoha, far above the trees, you could see for miles upon miles.

I laid back against a rock that had me facing out toward the sunset, I was still holding the envelope, it had only gotten a few splashes of water on it from the waterfall. I laid it down on the ground next to me, I don't know what it is about this place, but it puts my mind at ease, and I had no desire to find out what my present was in this moment.

I felt myself drifting off to sleep again. The events of the day swirling in my mind. I would figure out the contents tomorrow. No need to worry about anything else tonight.


	17. Two Truths

I awoke before the sunrise once again, nightmares had still been swirling my mind, but I felt more well rested than usual. The night air was cold up in the cave and I could feel the moisture in the air collecting on the ground around me when I stretched, making my pant leg damp.   
I almost forgot about the envelope that Minato-Sensei had given me. I picked it up and wiped the morning dew off, leaving small smudge marks but it didn’t seem to have soaked through the paper at all. It was heavy, but it didn’t feel like there was anything more than paper inside. 

I wonder if I should open it…Do I want to know what’s inside? 

I let out a heavy sigh, looking out over the trees and into the distance. It must be very early because there was no hint that the sun would be coming up. The night sky was littered with beautiful stars and the moon was almost full, lighting up the entire forest.

I guess it’s now or never. I undid the gold clasp that was holding the envelope flap closed and pulled the stack of paper from inside, there had to be at least one hundred pages and the top piece was blank except for one word.

**KAKASHI**

It was written in a beautiful script, flowing across the page taking up most of the space. I placed it on my lap, still leaning against the large rock where I had been sleeping. My eyes moved to the first sentence on the page that followed. 

‘We haven’t spoken in four years…I hope this will change things between us in the future.’

This was…from Rin. I began reading through the pages, most of the first dozen were filling me in on what happened before I came to her house and we parted ways for the final time. The rest were almost like a journal, as if she wrote a paragraph a day for the past four years. She wrote about her emotions, things that happened during missions, medical ninjutsu training, friends she had made. It was all written and kept track of for herself, but apparently at some point she decided that it was for me because the last 10 pages were as if she was speaking to me directly. She asked questions that went unanswered, she talked about our past, about the bad times and the good times. After reading for what felt like hours, the last page was in my hand. The final words spread across the middle just as the first page had.

**I’M SORRY**

I laid the last piece of paper face down with the rest of the pages on my lap. I couldn’t believe that I had just read all of Rin’s inner thoughts over the last four years. Why had she given this to me? What purpose did this serve and why didn’t she just try and speak to me instead? 

Sigh…

I guess there’s no worrying about all of that right now. I should just get to the bottom of this now before the group leaves for their mission. I secretly wanted to know who my replacement is too. I pushed myself up from the cold stone floor, packed up the papers, and headed back into the tunnel that led into the village. I should be able to make it to the gates before they even arrive for debriefing, I could talk to her for a few moments before they leave. I took the quickest route to the entrance of the village, running across the rooftops, making sure to step lightly as not to wake anyone this early in the morning. I wanted to be as early as possible so that I had time to plan out what I was going to say. I had no idea what I was going to do when I saw her. I still felt as though I was shut off from the feelings that I once had, but after reading what I had been given, I wonder if I will feel the same when I finally speak to her again.

I arrived just before the sun started to peek over the trees, the team hadn’t arrived yet so I sat on the same small stone wall that Obito, Rin and I would talk and joke around on before missions while we waited for Minato-Sensei. Those days were long passed, but I still felt a sense of nostalgia when I ran my hand over the smooth stones. So many good memories all around the village and I had become accustomed to the small flashbacks that would come and go when I would be somewhere or smell something that reminded me of the two of them.

Not long after I had arrived, Minato-Sensei came walking down the main road leading to the gates. He was alone so I assume he was getting here early to prepare for the mission, but he walked over to me instead and sat down on the rock wall too. “You know, this is where my team sat when I was a kid too. Jiraiya-Sensei would always be late and have an excuse that I never believed.” He sighed, looking up at the morning sky with a smile on his face. “We had some really good times back then. I never expected any of the things that life has thrown at me.”

I looked down at the ground beneath my feet, kicking at the dirt slightly.   
“Minato-Sensei.” I said quietly. “Did you know what was in that envelope?” I was gripping both of my hands tightly to the edges of the rock. I didn’t want him to say yes. I didn’t want to be the only one who didn’t know about the way she felt.

“No, I didn’t.” He said. “And I’m going to guess that it’s none of my business. Rin gave me the envelope and asked me to give it to you before I went to find you.” He looked over at me. “I only told you to come see me when you were ready because whatever it had been, I knew it was important to the both of you.” He stood up and walked a few paces toward the gate. “We both know how you handle emotional situations, so I just wanted to be here for you if you needed it.”

I let out a deep sigh. So, he didn’t know after all, he just was being a good mentor and letting me know that he wanted to help me. I couldn’t blame him for that, and I felt bad for blowing him off at the training grounds now. I thought he was just being controlling and unreasonable, but that was what I was doing.  
…

The sun had begun to rise soon after Minato-Sensei had walked away, he was speaking to the guards at the gate while he was waiting for his team to make an appearance. I had laid down across the stone wall, staring at the sky trying to come up with the right words to use when I saw finally saw Rin again when I heard footsteps coming from down the road. I turned my head slightly and glanced with my one eye halfway open so that nobody would notice. Rin was walking toward the gate and I don’t think that she noticed me laying there yet, she had a smile on her face that I hadn’t seen in years. I rolled onto my side, pushing myself into a sitting position. I need to talk to her before she leaves, before I lose this newfound courage that I had built up over night. 

“R…Rin!” I smiled and waved slightly in her direction. This was it, there was no avoiding her anymore now that I got her attention.  
She turned her head and looked toward me; the smile faded from her face immediately when she caught my eye. She had stopped walking, seeming almost frozen where she was standing. I don’t think that she had been expecting to see me this morning. Maybe I should have waited until after her mission to talk to her, I didn’t want to upset her by coming here. I stood up and began walking over to her with my hands in my pockets. I had to do this, just a simple apology would suffice at this point, I didn’t even need her to accept it or say anything at all. I was only about a foot away from her when I stopped, she was still making eye contact with me, she wasn’t smiling, but she also didn’t look afraid like the last time that I had seen her face to face like this four years ago. 

“I…um…I got the papers…” I stuttered a little bit more than I had intended. I didn’t want to sound nervous, but I couldn’t help it. She wasn’t speaking, but she diverted her gaze downward and sighed lightly as if she had been holding her breath since seeing me. 

“Kakashi…I’m sorry. I never meant to give you that…” Her voice was soft, almost a whisper. “I was going to keep that to myself, because it doesn’t make a difference…but you deserved to know after everything that I put you through.” She looked back up to me, her eyes glistening slightly, but she wasn’t crying.   
“No, it does make a difference” I said firmly. “I’m Sorr…” She didn’t let me finish. She held her left hand up to stop me from speaking any further.   
She smiled slightly, her face softening as she spoke. “I don’t need an apology Kakashi…I don’t want an apology.” She lowered her hand and shook her head. “I won’t even accept one, because although I was the one to tell you goodbye…You never gave it a second thought”. She turned away from me and began walking toward the gate once again before shouting. “Don’t worry Kakashi, I don’t hate you.” She stuck her hand in the air and gave it a dismissing wave and jogged off toward Minato-Sensei.  
…

I stood there for what seemed like forever. All my confidence washed completely out of my body in that moment. She didn’t want to fix things, she didn’t want my apology or to hear me out, she didn’t want anything to do with me still. Why did she even give me that stupid envelope, she should have just kept it for herself if it made no difference. 

I balled my fists inside my pockets. 

What was the point of any of this? I was perfectly fine before she decided to mess me all up again. I turned in Rin’s direction and without thinking I screamed. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!”. She had already reached the gate and was speaking with Minato-Sensei, her back turned to me. I knew she could hear me even though she wasn’t reacting, because Sensei had looked over at me. His face said a thousand words, his eyes were soft, and he looked sympathetic. I had to leave, I couldn’t stand here anymore, I needed to go back to who I was before this.

“Sorry if I’m late!” A deep voice called out from behind me. I heard footsteps pounding the dirt as a figure ran past me waving. “I was just informed about this mission an hour ago.” Asuma Saratobi, the son of the Fourth Hokage was replacing me on this mission. We had been good friends in the past, but I had cut him off with everyone else over the past few years unintentionally. I watched as he approached the group, wrapping an arm around Rin’s waist as she leaned against his shoulder.  
That was an interesting turn of events.

Now I really had to walk away. I don’t know why I expected to know such a major detail of Rin’s life when we hadn’t spoken in so long, but nobody else made mention of their relationship either. Maybe that was for the best though, it was none of my business anyway. I turned and headed away from them, I had patrols to do around the western walls today and could start early if I wanted, I needed something to distract me at this point.

A hand grasped my shoulder from behind as I began to leave. “You still can join us if you want.” Minato-Sensei said. “Like she said, she doesn’t hate you. You can come with us and try to fix your bond.” He was serious. I know he wanted me to say yes, and maybe if I did tag along on the mission it would help us. For now, I needed to be alone to process what had just happened. I sighed and shrugged his hand off. “That’s okay Sensei, I’ll try for next time.” I said as I sprinted away.  
…

There’s always next time…


	18. Mistakes

The days seemed to fly by since my birthday, and I had spent most of my time working on patrols and doing favors for people around the village. I even managed to get a significant amount of training done with Guy at the training grounds every day, he was the perfect sparring partner because he relied so heavily on taijutsu. I hardly ever went on a mission where I didn’t have to use ninjutsu anymore, so it was good to keep up on close combat training when I was home. 

Today was my day off, I had been working to hard according to Lord Third. He had ordered me a day of rest and relaxation, he even suggested I head over to the bath house and take an entire day to soak the stress from my body. That didn’t sound like a horrible idea so I decided after a long internal argument with my own mind that I would try it, what would it hurt to try and decompress?

I made it home and grabbed some new clothes and my towel. It had been some time since I had gone to the bath house. I think the last time I went was with Asuma, Kurenai and Guy a couple of years ago, it was their attempt at getting me out of my slump and although it didn’t exactly work, at least they had tried. Looking back on it now, they always had tried to be my friends, even when I didn’t want any.

It was completely quiet when I walked in, sliding the door closed behind me and going over to the changing and shower area. I hung my towel on the half wall beside me and stripped down completely. I rinsed my body off and taking a quick shower before getting into the bath. I was enjoying the fact that I could be alone for the time being, regardless of how long that would last.

I wrapped my towel around my waist when I was finished and walked over to the steaming bath, my muscles seemed to suddenly ache as I stepped in and submerged myself just past my shoulders. I could feel the instant relief wash over me. Clearly, I had no idea what I was missing out on because this was wonderful, I felt the tension in my shoulders and lower back undo itself and I hadn’t even noticed it being there before. It was so silent that I could have fallen asleep in the water and I almost did, but as I was drifting in and out of consciousness, I heard a couple of voices coming from outside. The sound of the door sliding open startled me and I sunk down further with most of my face covered by the water. I wasn’t wearing my mask, so it wasn’t uncomfortable like the fabric would have been when it stuck to my face.   
…

“I don’t know, that’s not what I heard.” Said the first male voice as they walked through the door. I was ducked low enough that nobody would have been able to see me over the walls of the tub. 

“That’s what I overheard this morning! They just got back a few hours ago, it doesn’t look good.” The second boy chimed in. 

I didn’t know these two people; I had never heard their voices before. I’m not one to listen to gossip so I decided not to any longer. I stretched out trying to work all the aches from my shoulders down to my feet, I could feel all the knots loosening as I extended each limb. I wasn’t going to be staying much longer if there were others getting ready to come in, it wouldn’t be very relaxing anymore listening to others talk.

The two were still bickering back and forth while they showered across the room. I hadn’t been listening at all to what they were saying, mainly because the water was so loud as it echoed through the room. I sighed as I heard the water finally stop, I guess it was time to take my leave.

“They said she probably won’t make it, what a shame.” The second boy said as I heard his footsteps through the water on the floor.

The first one was silent for a moment. “It’s always hard when we lose medical shinobi, there aren’t that many to begin with.” He said before sighing. “I’ve heard that Rin Nohara is one of the best that the medical core has…She was even trained by one of the legendary Sanin, Tsunade Senju.”  
…

My heart was beating so hard that I could feel it throughout my entire body. Did…Did I just hear that right? It couldn’t be true, but there was no mistaking it, that was what he had said. I reached up and grabbed my towel off the side of the bath and flickered over to the showers, unnecessary use of chakra, but I didn’t need the two of them to see me getting out of the water. I got dressed quickly as they slid down into the water, they didn’t even notice me until I was already out the door. I had to hurry, I had to figure out what was going on. I was sprinting toward the hospital as fast as I could without running into anyone or anything. My head was foggy, and I could very easily stumble and hurt someone in this state of mind.

I reached the entrance to the hospital, gasping for breath as if I had been running for much longer than I had. I walked inside, my head still spinning from lack of air and the information that was swirling around my head. 

“I need to see Rin Nohara.” I said as I approached the woman at the front desk. She glanced up at me. Her face was emotionless. “I’m sorry, she cannot have visitors at this time, please wait over there.” She pointed to a wall a few feet away with some chairs, they were all empty and the lobby was completely quiet other than the faint shuffling noises coming from down the hallway behind the front desk. “Is she alright? When can I see her? Where is Minato?” I couldn’t stop shaking, I had so many questions. I knew she was here, but I knew nothing other than what the two strangers at the bath house had said.

The receptionist shook her head, looking down at her desk. “I have no answers son, I’m sorry, you’ll just have to wait.”

It wasn’t her fault and I needed to stop myself from taking my emotions out on the woman, she was clearly upset about the situation as well. I’m sure that Rin had been working in this hospital many times during her medical training, which means everybody here had a connection with her as well. I sighed quietly and walked toward the row of chairs, picking one closest to the exit and sitting down with my face in my hands. I was at a loss, what was I supposed to do?

I heard a door slide open across the room, but I didn’t look up, I just sat there trying to focus and stop my racing thoughts when I felt a presence in front of me.   
“Stand up”. A stern voice said above me. I knew this voice, it was Minato-Sensei. “Outside. Now.” He didn’t even wait for me to move; I heard his footsteps as he left the hospital. I slowly stood up and walked toward the door, glancing once more back at the receptionist who was shuffling some papers. I don’t know how long I would have to wait, but from our conversation, it wouldn’t be any time soon.

I walked outside and saw Minato-Sensei standing against the building on my left. He didn’t look upset, but he looked unhappy. I needed answers from him, he had been in there with her. “Sensei what…” I couldn’t say another word before he cut me off. “Follow me.” He didn’t hesitate before sprinting off toward the forest just behind the hospital. I took off after him, trailing not far behind but he didn’t even acknowledge my presence until we stopped just beyond the first few rows of trees. He turned to me immediately after we stopped, his face was stone cold, and his blue eyes felt like they were piercing into my soul. 

“Who told you.” He said, his eyes never leaving my single uncovered one.

I shook my head slightly. “Nobody…I mean…I don’t know who they were. I overheard a conversation.” I was confused, he wasn’t giving me any answers either, why did he care who told me what happened?

“You had the nerve to show up to the hospital. So, now you want to be there for her.” He had bawled his fists at his sides. “There is no reason for you to have come today Kakashi. You weren’t told for a reason.” He was walking toward me and stopped only about a foot from me.

I was shocked. I didn’t expect this, but what did I expect? “She left after explaining so many things in her writing, I had so many questions… and then she comes back…and…and I don’t know what’s going on!” I was partially shouting without meaning too. 

Minato-Sensei quickly reached out and grabbed the neck of my shirt in his right fist. “You think you know everything because you read her journal?” His voice was lower than it usually was, I had never heard him like this before. “You know NOTHING about Rin, Kakashi.” He tightened his grip further “I’ve been by her side through all of her medical ninja training. I’ve seen how much she has changed over the years. Where were YOU?” He shoved me away with one push, staring directly at me. I had never seen him like this before.  
“SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE NEVER WANTED TO SEE ME AGAIN. WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?” I screamed at him. I was so angry; my fists were clenched. “She wanted NOTHING to do with me and she made that clear FOUR YEARS ago.” 

Minato-Sensei was shaking his head. “You were supposed to be taking care of her Kakashi. You PROMISED her that you would never let any harm come to her.” He was still yelling, but stopped as he was turning away, I think I saw a tear in his eye, but I wasn’t sure. “You didn’t even TRY and fight for her…You just walked away when she needed you most.” 

I paused. He was right, I knew he was right. I was just so angry at what he was saying, was I supposed to have done something different all this time? Sure, I could understand that, but what would she have done if I didn’t leave her alone. How was I supposed to know if she would push me away further or that it would fix things between us. 

“I told you to come with us on this mission”. He said, lowering his voice. “I gave you a chance once again and you didn’t take it. That is one of many chances that you had to make good on your promise to her.” He was walking away, back toward the hospital. “Don’t let Asuma catch you in that waiting room Kakashi. I cannot guarantee that I have enough strength to stop him from what he wants to do to you.”

With that he was gone. Leaving me in the forest alone once again.

He was right…I had so many chances to fix this, I was being selfish by cutting myself off from her and everyone else. I clenched my fists as I fell to my knees, letting the tears flow rapidly down soaking my mask. 

How could I have let this happen.


	19. Bonds

Darkness had fallen around me in the forest. I had laid down in the thick grass and stared up at the trees. I don’t know how long I had been laying there or what I wanted to do next, my thoughts weren’t even bothering me, I felt numb. I knew what Asuma had said was out of anger and pain, I had no right to be upset with anyone who was now close to Rin. I made a mistake not going with them on the mission, but I couldn’t dwell on that regret, all I could do now was be there for her like I should have been before.

I lifted myself from the ground and headed toward the hospital. Even if I wouldn’t be let into her room I would wait outside, even if it meant waiting forever.

The only light on my walk back was the glow from the streetlights above me, there weren’t all that many on the street leading from the forest, not many people were out this way at night so there was no need. The night air was cool and there was a slight breeze that blew a mixture of scents through the air. Families in the houses down the road were making dinner, restaurants further away were grilling and frying foods, and the scent of flowers and trees mixed. 

I arrived at the hospital and looked at the clock as I walked through the door. 

7:43

The woman who had been attending the desk had changed since I had been there. This girl looked as young as I was, so she had to be newly appointed to her job. I approached the desk as she was shuffling her papers around, she didn’t even notice me until I spoke.

“Ma’am is Rin Nohara accepting visitors tonight?” I asked politely.

She looked up quickly almost jumping at the sound of my voice. “Um…Um…I’m sorry” She was shuffling through the mess of papers more quickly. “N…N…” She was repeating as she did. “Ah, yes! Nohara! She is in room 114 at the very end of the hall to the right.” She pointed at the doors that I should walk through.

“Thank you very much miss.” I said as I turned away. I saw a blush on her cheeks just before heading to the doors. I was told a few times by my friends that I was a lady’s man, not that I ever acted on it or even noticed, but occasionally I would catch it and it would make me chuckle.

I saw the numbers getting higher as I walked down the hallway, getting nervous the closer I got to Rin’s room.   
110…111…112…113…  
As the number 114 came to be directly in front of me, I froze up and just stood there staring at the door handle.

“You should go in”. A voice came from behind me suddenly, causing me to jump. “She’s actually asked about you quite a few times in her sleep.” Minato-Sensei chuckled.  
“What would I even say?”. I let out a deep sigh, as if I had been holding my breath this whole time. I didn’t have the slightest idea of what I would do when I saw her, what she would even look like…could I even handle this?

A hand rested on my shoulder, squeezing it ever so slightly. “Say whatever your heart tells you to say Kakashi. She’s still asleep, she hasn’t woken up yet, but it’s still Rin.” He said softly. “You just need to make amends, even after all this time apart, you both still share the same bond as before.” He let go of my shoulder and walked back down the hall toward the exit.

I was alone again, but now I wasn’t as unsure as before. I took a deep breath and slid the door to her hospital room open, immediately being hit by the nauseating feeling that I thought had left my body a moment ago. It was an almost completely white room with one window next to the single bed. There was a sitting area next to the door was I walked in, a stack of clothes sitting on one of the chairs had been washed and folded by the nursing staff. The clothes from her mission.

The room was only lit by dim lights by the door and the pale moonlight that was shining in the window over Rin’s bed, and there she lay fast asleep. I walked over to her side and looked down at her, her face was paler that it had been last time I’d seen her. Her hair was flowing down each side of her face messily. The rise and fall of her chest was slow, but she was at least breathing, even if she did have oxygen tubes in her nose. 

I reached out and laid the back of my hand on her cheek, she wasn’t very warm at all. The last time I had touched her skin was when we had been laying on my futon all those years ago, it felt so different this time, but maybe it was just the circumstances. I lowered myself into the chair that was next to her bed and took her left hand in both of mine, holding it tightly.

“Rin…I’m so sorry that I didn’t come with you.” I said slowly. This felt silly, I was talking to someone who couldn’t even hear me. It was like talking to myself out loud, but nobody was around to look at me like I was insane, so I continued.

“After all of this time, even after what you said before you left for this mission…I have to say it, and I would say it a million times over and over again no matter how much you don’t want me too. I am so sorry for everything Rin.” I felt tears building behind my eyes. “I should have been here for you through all of these years, even though you turned me away, I never even tried to fix things… I was selfish and so were you.” The tears were now dripping down my cheeks. I tried to choke them back so that I could keep talking.

“I feel like we wasted so much time, you did so much with your own life, you were able to live it without me, but I didn’t move on at all. I just pretended like nothing ever happened, like you and Obito never existed so that I could shut out the pain that I felt. I was wrong to do that and again, I am so sorry Rin.”

There was so much more, I could talk for hours about everything that I could apologize for, but I didn’t want to even overwhelm myself with those thoughts. She wouldn’t want that; she wouldn’t want all the pathetic sad Kakashi talk. 

I silently cried just staring at her beautiful face, the face of someone who didn’t deserve the cards that had been dealt to her. She had suffered so much in her life and I never made it any better.

I sighed before speaking again. “I want to always protect you, even if you don’t want me too. I want to make good on my promise.”   
That was all I had left in me to say. I started sobbing, still holding her hand tightly. I didn’t want to lose her when there was so much more life for her to live. She deserved so much more than this.

I sat there a little longer before I stopped crying, it had only been a couple of minutes, but it felt like hours. I took one hand away and wiped the tears from my face with my arm. I held her hand a moment longer before loosening my grip, but I was stopped when I felt her hand squeeze mine back so that I couldn’t let go.

“I love you too, Kakashi.” Rin said quietly, her eyes still closed. Just like the last time, but this time she was talking in her sleep, and although that was the case, I knew that she had heard every word. I squeezed her hand back and smiled. Nobody was going to let any visitors in this late and I’m almost positive that Minato-Sensei probably made some sort of comment to the receptionist about allowing me to stay, otherwise I would have been asked to leave by now.

I got up and scooted myself onto the very edge of the hospital bed, making sure not to let my body touch hers since I had no idea about the state of her injuries. I rested my head on the pillow and closed my eyes, laying half on my side and half on my back to keep myself from falling off from the edge and just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I felt Rin shift slightly and her head was nuzzled against my collar bone. She let out a deep sigh in her sleep and began to lightly snore. I couldn’t bring myself to move so instead of sleeping I just laid there with my eyes closed enjoying the time I had before sunrise.


	20. Gone

The sun was shining over my face sooner than I had hoped it would. I had drifted off to sleep at some point unknowingly and I woke up with Rin still snuggled against my neck fast asleep. I knew I had to get up, but I really didn’t want to. This was the most peace I had felt in a long time, but I need to make my escape before someone comes to visit.   
I slowly started to slide myself out from under Rin’s head, letting it fall onto the pillow softly. I turned my head before standing up and gave her a small friendly kiss on the forehead. “Wake up soon, okay Rin?” I smiled at her still sleeping face. 

I pulled myself off the bed and fixed my clothes, taking one last look at Rin before heading for the door, but just as I was about to grab the handle, the door slid open and Asuma was standing in front of me.

“Good morning Asuma” I said cheerfully. I put both of my hands between my head and smiled and slid through the doorway past him. I wasn’t going to let him or anyone else ruin my day after the night I had. I knew he was pissed that I had been in Rin’s room. I looked back at him, still standing in the doorway as I walked away, chuckling silently to myself.  
“K…Kakashi…” He stuttered, stopping me in my tracks. The tone of his voice wasn’t anger, but surprise. I turned around and looked at him once again with a puzzled look on my face.

“When did she wake up…?” He had turned to look at me now, his eyes were glistening with tears building up. I had never seen Asuma cry in the almost 11 years that I had known him.

“She didn’t, she’s been asleep all night.” I said now walking back toward the room. Just because I had been in there with her, he assumed that she had woken up and nobody told him? Sure, I wasn’t on good terms with him, but I still wouldn’t have let that happen. I know how much he loves and cares about Rin.  
He turned back to investigate the hospital room. 

“Kakashi?” Rin’s voice came through the door. I practically tripped over my own feet sprinting back to the room, stopping right next to Asuma who was standing there in shock. Rin was awake, she looked a bit beaten and bruised with the dark bags under her eyes and the spacey look on her face, but she was awake.

Asuma seemed to come to his senses long enough to scream down the hallways behind us. “NURSE ROOM 114 HURRY!” As we both stumbled into the room and to the side of Rin’s bed. She smiled at both of us weakly, wincing as she was trying to sit up even slightly. 

“No, just stay laying down.” Asuma said as he placed a hand on the front of her shoulder, slowly lowering her back onto the pillow. “You are in no shape to move just yet.”   
Her eyes moved to me and she let out a small cough. “Thank you Kakashi.” Is all she said before the nurse came through the doorway holding her clipboard. Her eyes wide with disbelief as they met Rin’s.

“I…I…can’t believe it…” She stammered with her right hand almost covering her mouth. “We didn’t think she would even make it through the night, let alone…actually wake up…” We backed away as she walked over to the bed, putting her clipboard down on the chair that I had left there, and placed a single hand over Rin’s forehead. The light green glow from her medical ninjutsu covering her hands. “Hold still dear, this will only take a moment.” We all stood quietly while she did her job.

After a few minutes, the nurse removed her hand and smiled over at us. “She’s going to be just fine.” She said happily before turning back to Rin. “You will need plenty of rest still, we won’t be discharging you for probably another few days, if not a week, so you sit tight and relax.” 

Rin nodded slightly, still smiling. “Thank you, ma’am”. 

The nurse took her leave and left the three of us alone again. I was too focused on the fact that Rin was awake to remember that Asuma was even standing next to me until he walked forward to her side, sitting down next to her. He couldn’t care less about the fact he was angry with me for even being here, right now the girl that he was in love with was alive and that’s all that mattered to him.

I smiled at Rin again before turning to take my leave so that they could be alone, I’m sure that he would like to have some privacy with her and after last night I owed him that much. I walked to the door and slid it open. 

“Kakashi, where are you going?” Rin said weakly from across the room. Asuma was looking over at me as well. I turned around and looked at her smiling. “I just figured that I would give you both some time together is all, I’ll come back later don’t worry.” I was planning on coming back much later tonight when Asuma had gone home for the night. I don’t want to spend much time in a room with him either, but I also would like some time alone with Rin and that would only happen after visiting hours.

She had a puzzled look on her face as she stared at me. “Why would you do that?” she asked. She looked over at Asuma next to her and then back to me. “Are you two fighting again…” she sighed lightly. “I swear you two will never get along.” 

Now I was the one who was confused. Asuma and I hadn’t really been what I considered ‘friends’ in a long time, we barely saw each other in passing anymore. Matter of fact, this past few weeks is the most I have seen him in almost a year.

Asuma looked back at her. “What do you mean, Rin? Kakashi and I haven’t really spoken in over a year.” 

The puzzled look returned as she looked back at him. “No that can’t be…You two would never go that far with your little fights.” She was thinking hard about what Asuma had said. “Why aren’t you speaking though?” She asked him.

He looked back over at me and I could tell that he was just as confused as I was. “Well…” he looked back to Rin. “It’s really my fault…I didn’t like the way that he was treating you when we started dating, so I cut ties with him...” He sounded almost ashamed of that fact. I hadn’t known that he was the one that cut our friendship short, I always thought that it was the distance that I created. I never even assumed that there would be any other reason for us to just start ignoring each other.

Rin’s face was that of shock. She pulled her hand away from Asuma’s, apparently, he had taken it in his when he had sat down. Rin had the glisten of tears in her eyes as her eyes met his. “What are you talking about?!” She was trying to sit up again. I couldn’t tell if it was the pain that was making her eyes water or the realization that her feelings were the reason that our friendship ended.

“It’s okay Rin, don’t bother with all of that now. I don’t feel badly toward the situation anymore.” I smiled, trying to defuse the situation before it even became an issue. I didn’t need her to be upset right now.

She got herself onto her left elbow, breathing more heavily than before from overexerting herself. Her expression changed from confusion to anger quickly before she practically yelled…

“We are NOT dating!”


	21. Just Us

I woke up in a cold sweat, my vision blurry, and panicking about where I was. The dream that I had been trapped in felt too real and I wasn’t sure if I was even awake or still stuck in the endless loop of horror. I felt around the space where I was laying and felt the slight cushioning below me and open air on my side, suddenly I remembered that I was sleeping in Rin’s hospital room. Reality started flooding my mind as my eye adjusted to the darkness of the room. It had to still be early morning because there was not even the smallest bit of light coming through the window across the room.

Regaining my senses, I sat up and rubbed my eye with the back of my hand. The only thing that I could remember from my dream was the feeling of suffocating and inability to move my body, I know there was more, but I couldn’t bring it back.

I stood up and walked over to Rin’s bedside quietly so that I wouldn’t wake her. Her beautiful brown hair was laying messily over the side of her face as she slept, curled up in a ball facing toward me. I wiped the strands away exposing her eye that was completely open and a smile across her face as she looked up at me. “Hi…” she said softly.

The smile on my face when she spoke was hidden by my mask, but I’m sure by now that she could read my expressions through even just one of my eyes. “Hey there, feeling any better?” I asked as I lowered myself to sit on the side of the hospital bed.

She rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling, putting her hands behind her head as if she was laying in a field looking at the stars. She was silent for a few moments and I waited patiently for her to speak. “You know Kakashi…I really don’t remember anything past…Well…” she stopped with a confused look on her face. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to try and rack through memories that either made no sense or didn’t exist any longer. She looked at me and frowned. “I don’t remember much past when I had turned you away after…well what I remember as our last mission.” She sighed frustrated. “I know I have been training with Lady Tsunade…I remember bits and pieces of people, but it’s just flickers of memory.” She looked back at the ceiling once again. “I don’t remember Asuma…at least nothing past when we were children.”

She understood that their relationship was very real for him and the rest of us, but with her memory being gone, she couldn’t bring herself to pretend that she had feelings for him at the moment, that’s why two days ago she turned him away, she couldn’t stand the pain that she was putting him through. Of course, Asuma hid those emotions the best that he could, but we all knew that it was eating away at him inside, so he decided it would be best to keep his distance for the time being.

I took Rin’s left hand in both of mine, holding tightly to her trying to take away the trace amounts of pain that I could see on her face. “It’s okay Rin, nobody blames you and even Asuma understands that there is nothing we can do but wait for you memories to return.” I said.

She sighed again and shook her head. “IF I ever get them back…Lady Tsunade said…” I had cut her off, letting go of her hand and placing a finger against her lips. She smiled and let out a little giggle, rolling her eyes at me. “I can’t help it Kakashi”. She said as she let out a small breath with puckered lips, pretending to blow my finger away from her. “I worry about these things y’know?”. 

I laughed and moved my free hand back to hers. “Yeah, but even if you don’t remember the past, you have new memories to make now, so don’t dwell on it. Let whatever happen, happen.” I intertwined my fingers with hers. “Plus, I promise that I will fill you in with as much information as I can, but I told you, we haven’t really spoken much in the past few years.” As I said that, her smile started to fade once again.

“I’m sorry for what I did to you Kakashi…” She squeezed my hand tightly as if she thought I would let go. “I know that I probably had my reasons, but I had no right to ignore your feelings. I didn’t even try to hear your side of things, and it seems that I never did anything to fix that either. I don’t know what I was thinking.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

I smiled again and shook my head. “None of that matters to me. I didn’t do anything to fix things either…besides…when you’re ready, I have something for you to read that might jog your memory.” 

Her eyes shot open and she quickly sat up. “What is it!?” she asked frantically. “If there is something that can help, I want it as soon as possible!”

I paused before answering. Did I want to give her the journal that she gave me? It had so much information that could help her, but what if she remembered…and didn’t want me around anymore? I had been at the hospital for almost a week with her. The only time that I had left was when I had to shower, and when she had a special order for food because apparently hospital food wasn’t her style.

“Kakashi?” She said snapping me out of my thoughts.

I had to tell her. “…I have a journal, pages upon pages of your life that you wrote down and gave to me on my fourteenth birthday.” 

Rin’s eyes lit up, she was beginning to get all giddy and shaking with excitement. “I am SO SMART.” She said. “I can’t believe I did that, it’s like I was anticipating this!” her excitement lasted a little longer before she stopped suddenly and looked into my eyes. “You’re worried…aren’t you?” 

“A little bit, yeah.” I couldn’t lie about it. I needed her to know how I felt. For the first time in a long time, my feelings meant something to her and although that sounds selfish, I didn’t want to lose her again.

She took my chin in her hand as she leaned forward to me, her eyes meeting mine. “I don’t care what happened before, I already KNOW what happened with us.” She smiled. “All that matters is what happens from here on out, remember?” She took my words and tossed them back at me. 

I rolled my eyes, my face still in her control so I couldn’t move from her gaze. Her eyes were shimmering in the ever so slight moonlight coming through the window. In what felt like less than a second, she had pulled down my mask and planted a hard kiss on my lips, holding my face against hers so that I couldn’t pull away with the shock that she knew would be coming from me. 

“…Kakashi…” A voice came from across the room breaking both of us from the trance that we had fallen into, quickly breaking our kiss. I turned and looked behind me. Asuma was standing in the doorway. A bundle of flowers hanging by his side and a look of pain covering his face. I was stunned and couldn’t find any words to say as I stared at him, horror across my face realizing what had just happened.

“Asuma…I…” Rin began saying but couldn’t finish before he turned and walked out of the room. I turned back to her, still shaken by what just happened. She nodded at me. “Go talk to him…”

I sighed and lifted myself from the edge of the bed, looking back at her once more before walking out of the room to look for Asuma who was standing against the wall outside of the main hospital doors. He was looking at the ground and didn’t even notice my presence at first.

I cleared my throat, leaning against the wall next to him. “Asuma…I didn’t mean for that to happen…I swear I didn’t initiate any of that.” I sighed. “That doesn’t excuse the situation, but I promise you that I want nothing more than for her to remember her feelings for YOU.” 

“It’s fine.” He finally said, keeping me from rambling any further. “It hurts, all of this hurt like hell Kakashi.” Pushing himself from the wall he started walking away from me. “I can’t change what is happening and I can’t force her to love me like she once did. I just need to accept that and either wait or move on.” He looked up at the sky. “Just let me know which one I should be doing, okay?” With that he was gone, disappearing around a corner into an alley.

I sighed and punched the wall of the building behind me with the side of my fist. I really need to stop messing with everybody’s lives.


	22. Goodbye

Rin was discharged from the hospital a month ago today; I had seen her the day before her release and was sent out on a mission the next morning. Lord Hokage had said that it was important that I lead the group of genin that were sent out on a recon mission, joking that it would be good practice for when I had my own team of genin to lead. That had made me chuckle in my own head, he knew as well as I did that, I would never become a teacher let alone a Sensei.

The mission dragged on for longer than it should have. We were to collect information pertaining to Orochimaru and his whereabouts. He had many lairs scattered throughout the Land of Fire and other nations, but we were focusing on the ones closer to Konoha just in case he was active in the area. After a month of searching and finding no trace of him, we retreated with less knowledge than we had left with. It didn’t count as a failed mission since we were only looking for possible leads, but it still felt like I could have done more.  
.

We arrived in the Hokage’s office late in the night. He had been asleep at his desk when we entered, the three genin with me bowing before him as I approached, waking him with our footsteps.

“Ah, Kakashi. I apologize, it has been a long day.” He said, waking suddenly. He stood up behind his desk. “I trust everything went well.”

I nodded my head. “Yes sir. We ran into no trouble, but also, we found no trace of the target in the area either. He must have moved on to another nation.” I motioned to the young ninja behind me. “My subordinates were quite helpful and acted as true Shinobi, I am very proud of them and their actions.” I glanced over my shoulder, the smiles on their faces were well worth the compliment.

“I see, very good. You all did well, you are dismissed. Kakashi, I expect your report by the end of the week.” He said turning to look out the large windows overlooking over the village. I could tell he had a lot on his mind, and he was disappointed that there was no information regarding Orochimaru’s plans, but there wasn’t much more that we could do right now.

I bowed to him before leaving. “Thank you Lord Hokage.” 

We all turned and left his office, parting at the front steps once outside. I never would be teamed with those three again, but they may have been the most tolerable group that I have worked with in a long time. I shoved my hands into my pockets and took my time strolling home under the stars, the village was almost completely dark other than a streetlight here or there. My apartment was a bit out of the way of the main roads so it was always a peaceful walk with the route I would take.

I got to my front door and pulled my keys from my pocket. I had grabbed them from the Hokage’s office as I was walking out the door. I always kept them there when I would be on missions, it just felt like the safest place. 

Footsteps…

I silently slid my body against the edge of the pillar next to my door before flickering out of sight and appearing behind the figure that was approaching, grabbing their shoulders tightly and spinning them around. “Who are…” before I could finish a pair of arms were around my neck.

“KAKASHI!” Rin screamed, hugging me tightly before letting go. “I heard you were coming back soon, so I’ve been visiting your house every night to see if you made it home yet.” She said smiling at me in the dark, I could make out her features easily now that I was paying attention.

I sighed and let her slide off me. “That’s very sweet, but you don’t have to worry about me.” I chuckled slightly, knowing that was a lie. We both know that I’m reckless with my own life, and with these long missions it’s hard to know what may happen.

“I will always be worried about you, it’s my job as your best friend.” Her voice was stern as if she was scolding me. I rolled my eyes and walked toward my door once again, opening it.

“Would you like to come in?” I asked innocently. “I could make some tea; I won’t be sleeping much tonight I’m sure.”

She was already walking to the door before I finished my sentence. “I would like that; I have something that I need to talk to you about anyway.” She walked through the door and removed her shoes in the entry way, heading for the kitchen as I closed the door and did the same.

I put the pot on the stove to boil and leaned against the counter next to the stove. “Is what you’re going to tell me something bad?” I asked with my arms crossed. Never has anything that anyone wanted to ‘talk to me about’ ended in my favor, usually it was something I did wrong. I rolled my eyes discreetly at my own thoughts.

She was sitting on the counter opposite me swinging her legs. “Not bad at all!” She was getting excited. 

“Alright, so…what is it?” I was confused by the whole exchange.

She giggled; the excitement clear on her face. “Lady Tsunade wants me to come back to train with her! She said that even with my memory loss, I should be able to pick everything back up incredibly easy.” 

I smiled. So that’s all she wanted to talk about. I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I don’t know what I had been expecting, but with her it could have been anything. I turned and shut the tea pot off and poured the both of us a cup. Walking across the room I handed it to her. “Congratulations Rin. I know that you’ve been wanting things to get back to normal.” I pulled my mask down to my chin and took a sip of tea. I wasn’t afraid of her seeing my face anymore, she had seen it quite a few times, so I was comfortable.

She sat there in front of me sipping hers as well. “Thank you…but…” She paused before going on, looking down at my feet. “It’s going to take two years just like the last time, I don’t remember the training or how long I had been doing it, so I was surprised when she told me that.” 

“Well that’s alright, you’ll get the hang of it again. You don’t remember the training, so it won’t feel like you’re repeating it, just that you’re learning it for the first time. It should pass by quickly, and I’ll be right there if you need me.” I shrugged at the last part. I’m sure there will be times that I would need her medical expertise. I have a tendency of getting injured quite a bit.

She shook her head and put her cup down next to her. “No, you won’t be…I’m leaving.” Tears building up in her eyes. She wouldn’t look up at me and I was confused. “Lady Tsunade has business to attend to in the Land of Lightening…so I’ll be going with her.”

“That’s all you’re worried about?” I smiled at her as she lifted her head and looked at me. “I go on long missions all the time; I’ll be right here when you get back.”   
She sighed and pushed herself off the counter, wrapping her arms around my torso tightly. “No Kakashi, I’m going to be gone for at least three years.” She was crying against my vest. Three years? What could Lady Tsunade be doing all the way in the Land of Lightening for three years? I put my cup down and wrapped my arms around her. 

“Don’t cry…This is what you wanted Rin. You’re so good at being a medical nin…If this is what you need to do, I won’t hold you back. I will be here when you get back, no matter how long that takes.” I kissed the top of her head softly, holding it for a moment and taking in the incredible smell of her hair. She always smelled like strawberries and I didn’t want to forget that smell.

She finally pulled herself away and wiped her eyes with her arm. “I’m leaving tomorrow…that’s why I’ve been checking for you every day. I didn’t want to miss you before I left. I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye.” She looked up at me with so much pain covering her face. It was breaking my heart to see her like this.

“Well let’s just make the most of tonight then.” Is all I said before grabbing her by the hand and leading her to the living room, pulling her down onto the couch so that she was sitting on my lap, her legs on both sides of mine. She looked down at me with a weak smile just before I leaned in and planted a deep and heavy kiss on her soft lips. Rin relaxed against my body as I felt her hands run up the back of my neck to my hair, her fingers slipping through the spiked mess and untying my headband, letting it drop to the futon.  
She pulled away from me for a moment to softly bite my lower lip before going back into the kiss, her lips moving hungrily against mine. This was the first time that anything progressed past what had happened in the hospital room that night when Asuma walked in. 

I wanted more.

I moved my hands down her back to her hips, tightening my grip on her trying to control myself while sinking further into the futon as she was forcing her mouth against mine. I was the one to pull back this time to breathe. 

She smiled down at me, catching her breath. “I…” she began to say, but I stopped her with a few kisses up her neck, leading up to her ear and giving the lobe a soft nip.   
“I know.” I said softly, sending chills across the left side of her body, I could feel the shiver against my face as I kissed back down her neck to the space between it and her shoulder, giving it a bite and leaving a small bruise where my lips had been. Her skin was so soft and untouched that the deep red mark wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

She slid her hands across my chest and undid my heavy vest that I was still wearing. I sat up slightly to shrug it off my shoulders, she tossed it onto the floor behind her. It had been uncomfortable, and I was relieved to have it off. I used the new flexibility to stand up, letting her legs wrap around my waist before laying her back down on the futon under my body. Her legs bent at my sides and her arms wrapped around my neck. 

I leaned my face down to her planting another deep kiss on her lips, this time I was more forceful, letting our tongues meet and dance around each other’s mouths, every few seconds stopping to nibble on the others lower lip. It was a fluid motion, like we had practiced this a million times. 

Rin had pulled her head back against the cushion, catching her breath once again before running her nails down my shoulder blades over my shirt and down my back sending chills down me this time and causing my body to press down against hers. 

She giggled innocently noticing the change of weight against her. She knew what she was doing to me and she liked having the upper hand.

“You’re so beautiful”. I said, staring at her deep brown eyes before kissing her on the forehead. I had no idea that this would ever happen, being with her in this way or anything remotely close to it. She was my best friend, but she could have been so much more at one point. I rolled off her and laid on the side of her where my back was against the back of the futon.

She rolled on her right side and faced me, resting her arm around my torso, keeping a tight grip so that my body was as close to hers as possible. “I’m sorry that this had to happen just before I leave.” She said, pouting her lip at me causing me to roll my eyes.

“You don’t get to apologize for that. I was gone on a mission and you have a dream to pursue.” I lifted my free arm up to her head and ran my fingers through her beautiful waves of hair. “Konoha is going to need a medical nin with your skills one day.”

She smiled and yawned. “Yeah, yeah. Well the village should have to wait; I just want tonight to last forever.” Her eyes threatening to close as she spoke.

“Psh. You don’t mean that miss future Hokage.” I let my hand leave her hair and run down to her hip, resting it there. “Go to sleep now, you have a long journey starting tomorrow.” I watched as her eyes closed and her breathing became heavier. I rested my head against the cushion on the futon and closed my eyes as well, it had been a long month away from home and even though earlier I had been missing my bed, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere but in the small space between Rin and the back of the couch.  
“I’ll be back one day…” She said before a light snore started to escape her body. 

I smiled; my eyes still closed. “Yeah I know.” I replied quietly as I let sleep take over.


	23. Sixteen

The next morning Rin had left, waking me be just before the sun had come up to say her last goodbye. I had walked her to the village gates and watched as her and Tsunade walked into the forest, leaving me with the high that the last couple of months had given me.

A few short months later Minato-Sensei was promoted to be the Fourth Hokage as the war was ending. I had been personally invited to join the ANBU black ops working under the Hokage specifically as a bodyguard. 

I had reclused myself again once Rin had left, not realizing how alone I had become before her accident. She was the only thing that I had to distract myself with, and when she left, it was like something was missing again, even if it was different this time. 

The nightmares about Obito had come back full force as if they had never left, but this time they were accompanied by nightmares of Rin as well. Not that I hadn’t had those before, but after all that had happened, I didn’t expect them to return. Even worse, those were both accompanied by the ever so familiar feeling of suffocating and waking up drenched in a cold sweat. 

I hate thinking back on the past anymore.

Today makes two years to the day since Rin had left for her training and I hadn’t heard anything about where she was, what she was doing, or if she was even okay. The entire situation was nerve wrecking for the first year, but then I started trusting that this was how things were supposed to be. I had become numb after she had left, letting my emotions slip back into their familiar routine, which apparently made me perfect to join the ANBU. I had a certain ‘Darkness’ that they felt was needed to be an assassin. Guy and Kurenai were the only two of my peers who tried to stay in my life, and with Asuma having his focus on Kurenai, even she was distant sometimes.

I used my time in the ANBU to become stronger, even getting the nicknames “Copy Ninja” because of my Sharingan eye and the amount of jutsu that I had acquired because of it, and my least favorite, “Comrade Killer” because of what happened to Obito. Nobody would call me that to my face though, not only was I the captain, but I’m sure it was in fear of the same happening to them…Maybe it was better being feared than accepted.

The more time I spent among my new teammates, the less human I felt. I hardly recognized myself anymore when I was out on missions, I always left all my emotions at the village gates so that they wouldn’t get in the way. Coming back from each mission made it harder to regain feeling though, that scared me more than anything. It was like I was a whole different person and as much as I hated the feeling, I also loved being able to forget.  
…  
I had spent the last week on guard duty outside of the Hokage’s office, nothing exciting had been happening in the ANBU lately, so I asked to be put on light duty around the village until something important came up. I didn’t like my talent to be wasted on missions that could be assigned to rookie members, of course my request was immediately granted being the head of the Hokage’s security detail. I would watch as people walked in and out of the office; taking on mission requests, bringing documents to be signed, and the mountains of paperwork that needed reviewed and sent out to neighboring villages. Being the Hokage is not something that I would ever want to experience.  
…

The door on my left creaked open slowly. Minato was standing on the other side.

“Kakashi, could you come into my office.” He said, walking back to his desk on the opposite side of the large room.

I turned and walked through the door, closing it behind me, quickly taking a knee after entering, lowering my head respectfully. Although he had once just been my Sensei, Minato was now the Hokage, and I had to treat him as such even when alone in his presence. Even when time and time again he had told me that I could relax around him.

“Lord Hokage.” I said with my head still bowed.

He cleared his throat. “Stand Kakashi, I don’t need these formalities today.” He threw himself into his chair and began rubbing his forehead with his fingers. “I’m having a horrible day and would love if my former student could just remember me for who I am for just a few minutes.”

I nodded as I got to my feet and walked over to the grand windows behind his desk, sitting down and leaning my back against the one nearest to his chair, sighing and resting my arms on my knees, I looked up at the ceiling. 

“What’s on your mind Sensei?” I said.

“What isn’t on my mind is the question.” He leaned forward and rested his head on the backs of his hands. “I’m exhausted. This job is exhausting…Not that I would trade it…It’s just a lot to deal with...” He trailed off almost as if he was talking to himself. “How am I supposed to make time for my family when I have an entire village to protect.” 

I shook my head as he let out a deep sigh and spun his chair around to face me. “Have you checked in on her today?” He asked.

I chuckled almost silently to myself. “Yes, I do at least three times a day if not many more, everything is just fine.”

A smile spread across his face. Talking about his family always seemed to put him at ease, it was the one thing in his life that never changed. That’s why I was assigned to him and assigned by him to look after and protect his wife and soon to be son. 

“Thank you Kakashi.” He stood up and extended his right hand toward me. “I can’t think of a better person to have by our side.” 

I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet. His left hand fell on my shoulder as I stood up, he squeezed it tightly before letting go. “Take the rest of the day to yourself Kakashi. You’ve done more than enough today.” He let me go and turned back to his chair, sat down, and began shuffling through some paperwork.

I walked back to the middle of the room, turned to him and bowed. “Thank you…Lord Hokage…” I said before turning away to leave.

“Kakashi! What did I tell you!” He shouted after me as I walked away. I stuck a hand in the air and waved away his words, smirking under my mask. 

“Yeah, Yeah Sensei.” I whispered as I exited the office. I’m so thankful to have him in my life, sometimes I need him as much as he needs me. I would never have to tell him though, he already knew.

I stopped at the door as I was walking out of the office and turned to my subordinate. He was much younger than me, but nearly matched my power already. It’s no wonder he ended up on my team, the two of us made sense working side by side, both being able to use the sharingan.

“Itachi, I have been given orders by the Hokage to take some personal time. Please report back to Tenzo if you need anything regarding your orders.” I turned away after he nodded, taking off my mask and heading out.

What am I supposed to do with a whole day to myself? 

I can’t remember the last time that I had an entire day without any duties. If I wasn’t on guard, I was on a mission or training with my team…I guess I could just catch up on some sleep. Although it was early in the morning, I haven’t slept much in the past few months, opting for night shifts and day shifts, getting only a few hours here and there to rest. It was easier that way though, when I’m alone my thoughts wander and they’re hard to get back under control.

Slipping through the alleys and over the rooftops of the village back to my apartment gave me plenty of time to think of all the things I didn’t want to do for the day, enough so that I decided that I would go do some ‘shopping’. I hadn’t been by the shop to visit Kora in almost six months, which is the longest that I had ever been away. She is going to be extremely angry with me and now that she is a genin, she is a bit scarier than she was when she was five.

After getting home, putting my ANBU mask away and taking a quick shower, I left for my short journey to the other end of the village. I took my time so that I could burn a chunk of the day away, I didn’t want to end up with nothing to do later in the day and the trade district always made me feel a sense of peace. Not many shinobi were from this part of town so not many people recognized me. It was almost like I could be whoever I wanted when I was here, not judged for my past or my actions. 

There were plenty of people out shopping today, stacks of crates with new goods being moved around, kids running around between the shops playing and laughing. Sometimes I wonder what my life could have been like if I weren’t born into the world I was, what would it be like to have been just another civilian.

Before I could finish that daydream a voice called out to me and snapped me out of it. I immediately threw my arms in front of my face, just in time to block the powerful punch that I knew had been coming. “You know, surprise attacks only work if you don’t call out the opponents name, right?” I said with an eye roll.

Kora laughed as she took a step back from me, cracking her knuckles. “Yeah, well I wasn’t TRYING to hurt you!” 

“What makes you think that you could?” I scoffed, shoving my hands into my pockets. “Besides, we both know that I am way out of your league.” I turned away and started walking toward her family’s shop. I was trying to get under her skin, and now that she’s almost nine years old, it was easier to do. She was a genin, top of her class when she graduated, and as stubborn as me. I knew just how to piss her off.

“IS THAT A CHALLENGE KAKASHI?” She shouted, making others in the area turn to look at the commotion. They rarely, if ever, get to see a fight unless it’s an official area battle. Even those have been rare over the years. 

I stayed silent as I continued walking. I wasn’t going to fight her unless it was approved by her mother, I didn’t want to deal with her wrath later. “If your mother allows it, I would love to knock you down a peg.” I said, stopping at the shops entrance and glancing over to Kora.

“Is that you Kakashi?” Ms. Kitsaku’s voice rang from somewhere in the back of the shop.

I sighed. “Yeah, it’s me. Your stubborn child wants to spar with me, is that okay?”

Her laughter could be heard clearly down the road so even Kora heard it. I watched as Kora’s face twisted into frustration at the sound. “Y’know mom it would be nice if you had some faith IN ME” she yelled as she walked toward me. Her mother walking out from the back and into view, standing by my side still chuckling.

“Oh honey, I do believe in you.” She said with a smile. “I just think you need to pick your battles more carefully.”

Kora rolled her eyes. “He’s just big ol’ dumb Kakashi mom! I can take him any day!” She put her hands on her hips and smiled at me. “So, what do you say? Are you ready to lose?” she said with a smug look on her face. Oh, how I couldn’t wait to wipe that look off her face.

“Challenge accepted.” I shrugged. “Where are we doing this?” If we wanted a crowd to watch, it would have to be in an open area and I think there is a clearing nearby, but I wanted to see where she had in mind.

Kora turned and looked at the people who had been listening on the conversation and shouted. “WHO WANTS TO SEE A FIGHT!!!!” The cheers erupted around us, people who I didn’t think were paying attention were now joining the others in the street ready to go. 

“Clearing down the road. Five minutes.” I said as I flickered away.

This was going to get rough.


	24. Sparring

I arrived just before Kora in the field. The open area would be perfect for our short spar, but I'd have to remember to go easy on her. I hadn't fought anyone with a lower skill set than mine in a long time, not that she can't hold her own.

She came running down the path with her crowd of onlookers trailing behind. At least three dozen people had shown up for this, all to cheer on Kora. This is why I love her part of the village, Kora was the only shinobi in their community, so naturally everyone was extra supportive.

"Kakashi!" She yelled and pointed at me from across the clearing. "I challenge you to a match of skill and strength!"

I shook my head and put my hands into my pockets. "I accept. Come at me." I even kept my sharingan eye covered in order to not tip the scale even more in my favor.

She crouched down before sprinting at me full force and throwing a punch, a kick, and an elbow to my torso. I took a step back with every move she made. She swiped a low kick at my ankles which I quickly jumped upward to avoid. The smile never left her face even though she hadn't landed a hit yet. She continued to throw punches and kicks at different parts of my body, she had quite a graceful way of doing so, nothing felt forced and each one flowed into the next, her speed was going to benefit her later.

The final attempt was a roundhouse kick to my skull. I caught her foot with my left hand and held it there. "Are you done playing around yet?" I asked her. The smile on her face became more determined suddenly.

"I'm just getting warmed up!" She said, before immediately beginning to weave a sequence of hand signs and the ground around me started to sink slowly. "Earth style, mud moat" she smirked as she jumped away from my hand. I watched the murky mud form around where I was standing. I had no idea what her nature would be, but I'm impressed that it was earth style, a more defensive jutsu.

Not bad kid.

"Don't forget that this is a battle Kakashi!" Kora yelled. Her arms were covered in hardened dirt and she was taking a defensive stance. "I guess distracting you isn't very hard to do!"

Even more impressive.

She made her signs quickly with both jutsu, the second time I didn't even see her do it. I hopped over the muddy water with ease, her academy and slightly genin level ninjutsu wasn't going to be difficult to handle, but I was assessing her skills more than actually fighting, although she was also just trying to show off, I wanted to give the crowd that had formed a show.

"Let's see how much those stone bracers can handle." I said as she smirked at me. "Are you sure youre ready kid?" Her smirk flatlined on her face, her eyebrows crinkled inward angrily. She wasn't going to hold back, and I wanted to make sure of it.

I pulled a kunai out of my tool pouch and ran at her. I struck at her torso, her left side, kicked at her ankles, all of which she dodged before I then forced my elbow upward connecting with the bracers on her arms, sending her into the air above. I watched as she adjusted her body quickly in the air, her arms pointed down toward me, sending her more forcefully downward from the weight.

I flipped backward out of the way before she hit the ground, the force creating a small crater twice the size of her own body. As the dust cleared, I could see her chest heaving, the impact may have been too much, although the rock on her arms cushioned the blow, she was using an enormous amount of chakra control for her age to keep the jutsu together.

"We can stop whenever you're ready. You've more than proven yourself Kora." I said as I crouched down, putting my right hand on the ground in front of me. She was doing so well; I had a newfound admiration for her. With her skill set at her level, she will make a great genin and may surpass her peers with ease.

She crouched down as well only a few feet from me, still panting with both of her fists on the ground. "I have one more move that I want to show you." She said before digging her hands into the dirt and kicking off the ground, flinging herself at me. I spun sideways and dodged before her body could hit mine.

She flew past me, flipping her body back in my direction and digging her feet and one hand into the ground to stop herself, the stone bracers were starting to chip apart as her chakra control was beginning to diminish. She was staring me down as I turned to face her and with one swift movement, she took the hand that wasn't planted on the ground and threw a chunk of dirt at me which I let explode against my left shoulder.

"Got you." She said before the stone on her arms completely crumbled, her chakra was all used up. "Sorry, Kakashi." She said as she collapsed onto her stomach, still looking at me with her chin on the ground, smiling.

I felt a burning on my shoulder where the dirt had hit me, I looked over and saw that my undershirt had been ripped and there was a small deep gouge with blood soaking the area. So she did get me after all, I didn't even realize that the clump of dirt had taken any shape, it must have been just enough to stab me before disappearing. She used the last bit of her chakra to try and make a shuriken out of it, she almost completed the genin level jutsu with barely any chakra left.

I stood up and walked over to her, lifting her from the ground and cradling her in my arms. "You definitely got me." I told her as she smiled up at me. "You did great kiddo; you're going to be a strong shinobi." I walked toward the crowd of on lookers who were completely silent, I had paid no attention to the cheering or yelling over the course of our battle and almost forgot about them a few times. They all had their eyes fixated on us as I was carrying Kora.

"Watch this." I whispered to her before grabbing her left arm, since her right was trapped between my chest and her body, and I raised it up into the air and every person in the crowd started cheering, whistling, and screaming her name. It was one of the greatest things I had ever seen.

"I need to get her back home, but she is going to be just fine! Thank you all for supporting her!" I yelled to the crowd before flickering away with Kora. I know her mother had been watching and would already be home preparing for her recovery. As I approached the shop, Ms. Kitsaku ushered us inside and to the bed where Kora would be resting. I laid her down and covered her up as she started to snore softly. Poor kid is exhausted.

We left the room and went back outside. I shook my head and let out a little chuckle. "I didn't know that she had gotten so good. I am very impressed with her skill set at her age." I said scratching the back of my head, my shoulder was exposed, and I had forgotten about the cut on it.

Ms. Kitsaku gasped lightly. "Oh Kakashi! Did she hurt you? I am so sorry that she was so reckless!"

I couldn't help but laugh a bit more at her reaction. I loved how motherly she could be towards me, she always seemed to be more worried about my well-being than I was. "Yes ma'am, but don't be too hard on her over it, she's very proud of herself for even being able to make contact. Besides, I genuinely didn't let her do it on purpose, she threw off my guard all on her own."

She sighed. "Well it can't be helped. She is always going to be chasing your heels Kakashi. She truly wants to be just like you one day." Her eyes started to glisten a bit as if she was going to cry, instead she turned around to walk back inside. "I hope that life doesn't disappoint her too much." With that she disappeared into the shop and I turned to leave as well. I had been gone much longer than I thought, and the sun was beginning to set.

As I jumped onto the rooftops and slowly made my way home, I couldn't help but feel the same way. Kora was such a determined kid and I know that she could make any of her dreams come true, but it isn't that easy, and she has yet to experience life outside of the village. I can't help but worry about what could happen after graduation for her. If she didn't have to go through half of what I did, she would at least be on the fast track to having a happy life.

That's all I could ever ask for, for Kora.


	25. Boom

The whole next week was full of nothing but scouting the edges of the village. The worlds events had died down to almost nonexistent, and I was sure that the war had finally come to pass. The village was calmer, as those who weren't on the front lines didn't have many missions, so they were learning to enjoy life with their families again. I could feel the peace sweeping over not just Konoha, but the areas and smaller villages surrounding it.

I had been finishing my mid-morning look out for the day on the eastern most edge of the village walls when I heard someone approaching in the distance. It was another Shinobi on guard who I had the pleasure of meeting early this morning. His name never came up, but of course just like everyone else, he knew mine without even asking.

"Kakashi." He said, as he appeared by my side. "The Hokage has new orders for you, he says it will begin this afternoon so you better head over to him now, I'll take your post."

I nodded in thanks before flickering away, heading toward the Hokage's office. I hadn't had anything too specific from him in quite some time, but I wasn't worried too much. Anything but guard duty would be enough to entertain me at this point, even a simple escort mission. I hopped over the rooftops, watching people below going about their daily lives and I couldn't help but think how nice it must be to not have any worries that us Shinobi have. I chose this life and I don't regret it, but I wonder what people possibly do all day without these responsibilities.

The Hokage's estate was quiet outside and inside today, as I had said, not much was going on that required immediate attention, so the only ones around were those who worked here every day. As I entered the long winding hallway leading to the Hokage's office, I heard voices from around the corner.

"What exactly was all that fuss about, who was he?" The first voice was almost a whisper, a female.

"Nothing too serious, don't you worry. We took control of the situation and for now he is no threat." The second voice replied, a male.

The way he spoke made me believe that he was ANBU, he had nothing but authority in his voice, but he wasn't anyone who I had the pleasure of working with, which means he was from further in the ANBU chain, beyond anyone working for the Hokage.

As I rounded the corner, I got not even a second's glance before he flickered out of sight, his mask had been on, so I wouldn't have recognized him anyway. The girl was still standing there just beyond the door though. When she saw me, her face turned a bright red, she smiled sheepishly and walked past me quickly. She wasn't ANBU, but she knew the man that she was with personally, otherwise there would be no reason for her to ask such questions, let alone address an ANBU.

The door was cracked open as it usually was, and I knocked twice before slowly entering the chambers. Minato-Sensei was sitting behind his desk, shuffling through some papers with one hand and rubbing his temple with the other. I cleared my throat as I approached the middle of the room, trying to get his attention since he clearly did not hear me knock.

His head raised quickly when he heard me. "Kakashi! When did you get here?" He said, sincere surprise on his face and in his voice. "Never mind. I'm sorry, I did summon for you." He scrambled slightly trying to clean his desk up. He looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept in days.

"Are you okay Sensei? You look kind of awful." I said as I took a knee and bowed to him. I know he hates my formalities, but not only as his subordinate, but him being the Hokage, I couldn't skip them. I know if anyone were to see me, they would find it disrespectful.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I haven't been home in three days. Kushina brought me dinner last night, but no matter how many times I tell her to stay home and rest she won't listen. Did you talked to her like I asked?"

I did unfortunately. She wasn't very happy with it either.

I cleared my throat before speaking. "In her own words she said that she didn't need anyone to take care of her, y'know?" I told him. What I didn't say was that she swiftly gave me a good knock on the head and told me to let Minato-Sensei know when I saw him to stop sending me. We both knew that part wasn't going to happen, but she didn't seem to mind or notice when I would watch her from afar for him.

"She is so stubborn." He shook his head and smiled. "That's one of my favorite things about her, she always has thought that she didn't need anyone, but for some reason she has always made me think that she needs me."

I didn't really understand that part. If you don't need someone, you just don't need them and vice versa. Why lie to yourself or them for what seems like pity? I looked at the ground thinking about that situation to myself before he spoke again.

"You'll understand one day Kakashi. Love is a strange thing, but it is a wonderful feeling to be loved." He said.

I shook my head. "What was the mission that you had for me sir." I didn't want to talk about love anymore. I have been alone for so long that it didn't interest me in the slightest. I was very happy for Minato-Sensei and his family though; they were the closest thing to family that I had too.

"Ah that's right. It's an ANBU mission, but you won't be needing your team for this. I just need you to do a sweep of the forests outside of the village, but I need it to be thorough and report anything strange that you see or even if it is just a sensing." He grabbed a paper from the pile on his desk. "There was a sighting about a week ago of a man in a black cloak, but the ANBU that were dispatched took him into custody and the threat if any was reported to be taken care of. I just want to make sure that he was the only one in the area." As he finished, he smiled at me the same way he used to smile at all of us before a mission. "Don't cause to much trouble for yourself Kakashi, think of this as a time to get away for a while."

I knew he was up to something; such a simple task could have been given to any ANBU working under him. He always is trying to find ways to get me distracted from myself, my darkness, as the ANBU's leader Lord Danzo had said once. I don't share his ideals and Minato-Sensei knew that, which is why he assigned me as his personal bodyguard, he didn't want Danzo to have control over me and this way he couldn't.

I nodded my head. "Yes sir. I can leave as soon as possible." I said in my most professional tone. I could almost feel his eyes roll as he turned around to look out the windows over the village.

"Alright, you are dismissed, get your gear and head out." He waved his hand behind his back and I left quickly to prepare for my assignment. I didn't want to tell him, but I was excited to get out of the village for a while, this should only take a few days at the most, but it will be nice to be away from all the noise.

I got home and grabbed my mask and cloak, the evenings could get cold in the forest, there being so much overhead coverage it didn't warm up much during the day. I also was going to be alone, so sleeping in a high tree would be my safest plan. Covering myself with the cloak would make the most sense since it was black, almost like a camouflage in the darkness. I grabbed my tool pouch and headed out to the front gates, letting the guards know the necessary info so that I could leave. The gates opened and I sprinted out into the trees, surveying as I went. I had to get far enough away out of the range of the guards on the walls. There was a specific area that they could watch, and I would just be a distraction if I stayed too close.

After about an hour of distancing myself I began to slow to a walk and took it easy looking around and focusing my energy on just that. I had my mask on and sharingan exposed beneath it for extra visibility. Although I was quite used to having it covered, the mask made seeing slightly more difficult with one eye.

The animals around the forest were scampering around happily, not even caring that I was near. The peace of this place could soothe an angry bear, not a sound other than the leaves blowing and little paws hitting the ground, and feathers flapping through the sky above the canopy of trees.

I spent a few hours slowly examining for anything out of place and had yet to find a single thing that seemed like a threat or even that anyone had been in the forest at all. Whatever those ANBU had dealt with clearly wasn't a major threat if there weren't any struggle signs whatsoever in the area where they had found him. It seems like a safe time to take a break; the sun had begun to set and the little bit of light that was still shining through the trees was starting to get dim.

I climbed my way to the tallest tree in the area and stretched out on a branch before pulling some food pills from my tool pouch on my hip. It wasn't the greatest meal that I could have had, but this being not much more than a stroll through the woods, I didn't want to bother with making a fire or cooking anything. I wouldn't be using much if any chakra either, so it would be best to just conserve what I could as a precaution.

Night fell and I let my mind drift as I closed my eyes and wrapped my cloak around me. The branch I was on was thick enough that I didn't have to worry about rolling off in the middle of the night, I did have a tendency of doing that in the past. I let the soothing night noises start pushing me into a light sleep, but only moments later what sounded like thunder rumbled in the distance.

Great, now I had to worry about an incoming storm and I'm sleeping at the top of a tree. I kept listening for another roll of thunder, but it never came. Maybe I'll get lucky tonight and not have to move. As that thought left my mind a loud CRACK echoed through the forest along with another loud boom that seemed to shake the entire earth.

Suddenly, I was thrown out of the tree as a last BOOM seemed to envelop the area surrounding me, the sound piercing my eardrums sending me into unconsciousness as I was falling through the air toward the ground.

I blacked out.


	26. The Jump

My head...

The echo was rippling through my brain still, I couldn't see anything but a rush of colors surrounding me as I tried to pull myself to my knees. What the hell was that?

I had been out for some time; the morning sun had risen while I was unconscious and although I couldn't see much of anything, I could tell that it wasn't dark anymore.

My body seemed just fine aside from a few minor bumps or bruises from the fall out of the trees. My legs felt like rocks weighing me down as I crawled over to the nearest solid object that I could feel out and leaned my head against it trying to regain some control over my body. I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes with the back of my gloved hand. My vision cleared enough that I could see the broken log that I was leaning on, as I lifted my head I could see that whatever had happened brought down quite a few trees in the area, almost as if paper bombs had gone off.

What a time to be alone. I took my time sitting where I was until my mind was clear enough that I could access the damage more thoroughly. That blast wasn't natural. The air was clear with no sign of any explosion other than the downed trees and broken branches. I had to explore the area before heading out again just to be sure I wasn't going to be followed back to Konoha.

I can't be sure of anything right now with my head still feeling fuzzy, but I thought that I could sense someone. As a precaution I pulled my ANBU mask back over my face and threw the hood of my cloak back up, scanning the surrounding area once again before heading out. Everything seemed still, not even a breeze in the air to move the leaves. I was supposed to be surveying the area around the village for any irregularities, I guess you could say I found one.

As I turned to leave, I caught a twitch of movement at the other end of the broken rubble of tree trunks. Could have just been a small animal, but I hadn't seen one in the last hour at least. I stayed still on my branch, shadowed by the leaves above me.

Nothing.

I silently leapt up into a tree at the edge of the forest trying to get a better look. Just beyond a pile of logs was a shadow laying on the ground. It wasn't moving but it was something. I jumped down and sprinted over, keeping my guard up as I did. It was a person; I could sense their faint chakra. I stopped just as I approached the logs and looked over them.

There was a girl, she couldn't be much younger than me, her short pink hair was matted with dirt and her face was pretty rough with a few scrapes and blood along her ear and cheek, she was wearing a cloak almost like mine, but it was white instead of black. No headband in sight, so maybe just a traveler? I had never seen her before and being this close to Konoha I'm suspicious. Could she have possibly done all of this? That didn't seem likely.

I crouched down beside her to get a better look at her injuries. If she had caused whatever that explosion was, I'm sure she wouldn't have purposely put herself in the middle of it. I brushed her hair away from the side of her face lightly and tucked it behind her ear. She had a large gash on her left eyebrow, the source of the blood running down her face. I pulled a piece of cloth from my tool pouch and lightly blotted the blood around the wound, it wasn't bleeding badly anymore but she was going to need medical attention.

Her left eye opened slightly, and a groan escaped her lips. It didn't look like she could see anything, almost how I couldn't when I had woken up. "Hey, can you hear me?" I said quietly, Tilting my head in her view.

She said nothing but let out a hard cough, blood spitting out onto the ground. I took the cloth and wiped her mouth. She was in bad shape, I needed to get her help. I was going to be in huge trouble bringing her back to the village, but I couldn't just let her die here if she was an innocent bystander. "I'm going to pick you up." I said. Hoping she could hear me.

I put my arms under her torso gently and lifted her into a sitting position against the log. I could tell that she tried to use a little strength to help me, even if it wasn't much, it showed me that she did understand what was going on.

Her eyes both were slowly opening, they resembled someone who was drunk, very disconnected from the world, but they were a very beautiful light green. Her vision was beginning to focus just like mine was, although she took a heavier hit than I did based on the wounds.

"ANBU..." She said almost silently. Her breathing picked up suddenly and she was shifting where she sat as if trying to get up. I placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her from moving too much.

"Yes, I want to help you." I watched as her face twisted in pain. That was a good sign, she was becoming more aware by the second. "Do you know what happened, can you remember anything?" She put a hand up to her face, feeling the gash on her eyebrow and wincing even more.

"No, not really". She whispered. "I was...well...we..." she wasn't fully there yet; I can't imagine she would be able to tell me much.

I shook my head. "It's fine we can talk later about that. What's your name?"

She sighed as she placed her hand back over the gash, a small green light radiated from her hand over the wound. She is a medical shinobi, but from where? She couldn't possibly have much chakra left, that much was obvious, the glow was dim and barely there, but it did its job to heal the edges and clot the blood.

She opened her eyes again and looked at the ground. "Sakura..." She said, it looked like a smile had snuck onto her face. "I can't know yours...right?" She knew the rules, so I at least know that she has met an ANBU before.

"So, you know then. I'm sorry that I can't give you that information." I said, watching her eyes search the forest. "Are you alone out here?" I asked curiously. She seemed to be looking for someone and I still had no idea if she was an enemy or not.

She shook her head lightly. "No...or I wasn't..." I could tell that she had been trying to feel out others the way that I had seen Rin do dozens of times. She looked back down at the ground, clearly exhausted by the amount of energy she was using just to stay awake. "My Sensei...he was here when..." She sighed again and held her head. "I can't remember exactly what it was that happened."

I stood up and looked around. "Stay here." I said. Not that she would be able to get very far if she managed to even stand up. "Let me search nearby for them." I flickered out of sight and back into the forest. They couldn't be far, but they could have left to search for her as well.

Not far from where we had been there was something reflecting sunlight off a branch. I leapt over and grabbed a ripped headband that had wrapped itself in the branches. It had the leaf symbol etched into it. It more than likely was left from a fallen comrade or lost during a fight, that wasn't unusual to find after fighting a war, the best we can do is honor the fallen comrade by bringing it home. I wrapped it around my bicep before heading back.

She was still sitting there, looking paler and more dazed than she had been when I left. She needed to get to a hospital soon. I walked up to her and crouched down again to her level. "I'm going to take you back to Konoha for treatment, you need healed." I put my arm under hers and lifted her to her feet. "Climb onto my back, it's not far." I crouched down in front of her and felt the weight of her body fall onto mine. I felt her arms wrap around my neck gently before I wrapped my arms around her legs and jumped into the trees heading south back to the village.

"You found my headband..." She said tiredly.

Her headband? She was a shinobi from Konoha? Why have I never seen her before? She is my age, not that it mattered much since I graduated before any of my peers anyway. I still feel that I would have noticed her, she was quite beautiful. "You're from Konoha?" I asked and felt her head nod against my shoulder.

"Can you just take me to lady Tsunade please. I need to report back...and she will heal me...". She was telling me this like Tsunade had come back.

I shook my head. "I can't do that; she hasn't returned from the land of lightening yet." The more we spoke, the more confused I was becoming.

It was silent for a few more moments before she spoke again. "What?" is all she said. I didn't exactly know how to answer that either.

"Don't worry, I'll take you to the hospital for now...we can sort things out with the Hokage afterwards. You don't need to report until you're healed." I told her. "I'm sure that a squad of ANBU will be dispatched to find your team as well."

Silence again. I could see the gates in the distance and picked up the pace. She wasn't heavy to carry, but I still wasn't strong enough to keep going much further with my injuries. "I thought you said Lady Tsunade was gone?" She sounded as confused as I was. I assume she hurt her head, maybe something like what happened with Rin a few years ago. I slowed to a stop just before the gates, looking over my left shoulder at her the best that I could. Her face was almost white compared to her bright pink hair, but her bangs were no longer stuck to her forehead with sweat and I could see a small purple diamond in the center. Just like Tsunade's.

"Is Tsunade your sensei?" I asked. That would explain why she was in the borders, Tsunade may be nearby or at the village already.

She shook her head. "No...She just taught me medical ninjutsu. Kakashi Hatake is my sensei."

I almost dropped her. I looked away and started to laugh. "Alright, time to get you to the hospital." The girl was delusional at this point. I was not her sensei, or anyone else's for that matter. Not that she was aware that she was talking to me anyway. We made our way through the gates and to the hospital where I handed her off to the nurses. I let them know her name and that I would be back to check on her after I visit the Hokage.

As I made my way through the village to report my findings, I couldn't help but think about that strange girl. Hopefully things would make sense when she was better, I can't wait to see what Lord Fourth has to say about this.


	27. Back Home

After stopping by the hospital, I headed to the Hokages office, I needed to let Minato sensei know what happened out in the forest.

The entire outside of the building was cluttered with people. Some were talking in groups; others were coming in and out in a hurry through the front doors.

What was going on?

I pushed my way through the crowd and made my way down the hallway to the double doors leading to the Hokage's office. I knocked 3 times, opening the door ever so slightly to look inside. I did not want to intrude, but if I did not make my presence known I may never make it inside with everyone trying to swarm to him at once. Being a member of his personal Anbu had its perks.

Inside was a man wearing a black suit that did not quite fit his bulky arms. He was incredibly tall and as he turned his head to look at me, I saw a large scar that took up most of the side of his head, and his entire ear looked like it had been burned and scarred.

The man turned back to the Hokage and bowed before turning to leave. His eyes were hard and bright green. This man was if anything a seasoned veteran. I opened the door as he walked toward me, letting him pass before closing it behind him.

"Kakashi! What happened! Did you see anything?" He said, a touch of panic in his voice. Minato sensei never lost his composure. This is the closest I had ever seen him to doing so.

I lifted my mask from my face, hooking it to my belt, and pulled the hood of my cloak back. "Is something going on in the village? Why does everyone look like they're panicking?" I answered his question with another. I have no idea what it was that he was even talking about. There is no way that the explosion could have reached all the way here, could it?

He stood up and walked toward me, examining my face and torn cloak. I did not notice the extent of my injuries while worrying about the girl.

"You were there weren't you? During that explosion." He ushered for me to sit on the ground and I quickly did so. My body was sore, and I was feeling the effects from running back to the village with my injuries. "What happened?" He asked as he walked back to lean on his desk.

"I... well honestly I have no clue. I was getting ready to fall asleep and I heard what I thought to be thunder...before I know it, I was falling and blacked out".

He turned his head to look out of the windows behind him, staring out over the village that he holds so dear. I can only imagine what it must feel like, having the weight of the entire village’s safety on your shoulders. Every bump in the night probably worries him, but he never shows it.

"Sir, I did need to talk to you about something that happened while I was out there...I found someone laying in the rubble." I paused. This is the part that I was dreading telling him. "A girl...I brought her back to the village. She was badly injured and claims to be from konoha. She says that she is a student of lady Tsunade".

He turned back around to face me. I half expected to be met with rage as he did so, but surprisingly his face was more confusion than anything. "Well, do you recognize her? Spending as much time with Rin as you did, I assume you must have crossed paths."

I shook my head. "That's the part that I can't understand. She was talking nonsense about having to report back to Lady Tsunade as if she were in the village." I said.

My head was throbbing, and I was pretty sure that I was suffering from a concussion at the least. I rubbed my left temple with my fingers, trying to get some relief. "I'm almost positive that she has some memory issues. She was in bad shape and barely lucid when I found her...and". The room started to spin before I could finish telling him about the girl’s wild imagination, I felt like I was going to vomit.

Minato walked over to me and crouched down, throwing my left arm over his shoulder before standing us both up. "Alright Kakashi, let us get you to the hospital, I'm surprised you even made it this long with your injuries. You must be running on pure adrenaline".

He walked us over to one of the large windows and opened it with his free hand before pulling me onto his back and heading toward the hospital. The village around me became a blur of colors and before I knew it, I had passed out.


	28. Decisions

I woke up some time later in the hospital, nobody around and the only sounds being the beeping of machines. My head wasn’t throbbing anymore, but my body felt like it had been hit by a bolt of lightening. 

I laid there for what felt like hours, but looking at the clock, it had only been twenty minutes. I groaned and sat up, ready to stand up and find a medic to ask about what happened. I vaguely remember being in Minato’s office, but then nothing. 

Just when my foot touched the ground, the door to the hospital room slid open and Minato-Sensei walked through the door. “Finally awake I see”. He said as he leaned against the closed door. 

“Yeah, how long was I out though?” It had to have been at least a night, there was no way he just had gotten there. 

Minato chuckled. “Four days, I was getting a bit worried.” 

“Four days?!” Did everything that happen really take that much out of me? My head was spinning as the realization set in. “What happened to that girl? I brought her here. Did you find her?”

Minato’s face fell slightly and he rubbed the back of his neck. “About that, she is going to need to be interrogated before we can figure out what is going on.”

“Why?! She honestly doesn’t seem like a threat, just confused and lost.” There was no way that girl could be dangerous, she just didn’t give off that vibe. 

“She’s talking about things that haven’t occurred, Kakashi. She thinks that I’m supposed to be dead, you’re her sensei, lady tsunade is the hokage.” He shook his head. “She passed a psych evaluation already, so we need to know what she is talking about and who she is exactly.”

I didn’t think that she had been in her right mind when she said that he was her Sensei. Too many things now were not adding up, but I still wasn’t convinced that she was a threat. I stood up and stretched, trying to get my body to readjust to standing and walking. “I’m going to see her.” He said as he walked towards the door. 

“I can’t let you do that Kakashi, who knows what will happen if she recognizes you in such a confused state.” He stood his ground in front of the door as he tried to make his point. 

“Well then we will know if she is clinically insane or not for real if she flips out and spirals.” I sighed. “Let me through Sensei, I can handle this myself.” I said as I pushed past him, his shoulders slumped and he stepped to the side as I opened the door. “You can come with me if you need to, but I would rather do this alone since she was already comfortable with me after I found her.”

He sat down in a chair by the door. “Go ahead, shes five doors down to the right Report back to me when you’re done.” 

I rolled my eyes. “Yes sir, Lord Fourth, sir!” Earning a huff of dismay from him as I walked out of the room. 

The door to the girl’s room was propped open, I could see the form of someone sitting up slightly and as I peeked in, she was looking out the window. Her short pink hair even brighter with the sun shining onto it. “Um...hello.” I said as I entered the room. 

“Hey there hero.” She clearly recognized my voice without shifting her gaze. 

I walked in further and stood beside the bed, looking out the window to see what had her so enticed. There was a beautiful blue bird hopping around in the small tree outside of the window, it kept stopping and almost seemed like it was looking at her. “So, how are you feeling? Is your head okay?”

“Yeah, they fixed me up pretty good...” she trailed off as she turned her head, a smile on her face and her bright green eyes reflecting the sun...which had widened as she met my eyes. I didn’t have my headband on, my mask was pulled halfway down my face and I probably looked like a total mess. 

“Sorry, I usually don’t look like I fell out of a tornado.” I chuckled lightly as her jaw dropped open. 

“K-kakashi Sensei?!” She nearly shouted in shock. 

There we go with the Sensei thing again. Minato was right, definitely not right in the head yet. “Uh...no?” I raised an eyebrow at the strange, yet beautiful girl sitting in front of me. “I am definitely not anyone’s Sensei, your head must still be foggy.”

She shook her head and blinked a few times as if she would wake up from some kind of dream. “No, there is no way.” She said. “How old are you? You look so young.”

“I’m seventeen...been that way almost a whole year now.” I was confused as to not only how she knew my name, but why she insisted I was her Sensei. Maybe if I could figure out something about her, I would be able to find out who she actually was. 

“You’re seventeen?! This had to be a joke or something. Am I in some sort of genjutsu?” She looked as if she was panicking, which I needed not to happen if I didn’t want Minato sensei to drag her off to the anbu interrogation room. 

“Okay, settle down. Something clearly happened here and I don’t know what it is. Who were you traveling with when that explosion happened.” 

She scrunched her face trying to think of the events from the day no doubt. “Well, you...Naruto, and Sai. We got ambushed and in the middle of the fight, a huge explosion of just air and sound happened, and I woke up where you found me.”

“You say you’re from here though? The hidden leaf?” I asked as she nodded in response. “What team are you on? Or remember being on that is.”

“Team seven, but we call it team Kakashi now...I’m sorry, this is so weird because in my mind you know a lot more than this.” She sighed and fell back onto the bed. “I wish I knew what was going on...”

“I wish I did too.” I shook my head. “Minato...Lord Fourth...wants the ANBU to interrogate you, he hasn’t talked to them yet, but I think neither one of us wants that to happen.”

Her eyes widened. “Well aren’t you technically ANBU? You could interrogate me, we can clear it all up and once you see I’m not a threat we can decide what to do about this situation.”

If only it were that easy... “The interrogation core is a whole different division, I am not authorized to do that.” The way that things are looking though, it isn’t going to turn out well with what she has been saying, the last thing we need is her to be locked up for whatever stupid conclusion they can come up with. 

“Let me talk to Lord Fourth, I’ll be back shortly.” I inched backed up and left, watching as she threw a pillow over her face and groaned as I made my way into the hall. Minato sensei was waiting outside for me patiently. 

“So, how did that mess go.” He raised an eyebrow as if he hadn’t heard almost everything I had said. 

“I don’t want you sending her to the ANBU.” I almost demanded, which was surprising to even myself. “I mean...please give me a chance to take care of this on my own first.”

“What exactly are you suggesting?” He eyed me suspiciously. 

I took a deep breath and let it out. I almost knew the response I was about to get before even speaking. “I want to be in charge of her for the time being.”

“Excuse me? You think that you are qualified to make that choice Kakashi?” He asked with a confused tone. 

I shrugged my shoulders indifferently, better that I stay calm and collected about the situation if I wanted it to go my way. “Sensei, we know that I am more than qualified to look after her while we figure things out, we don’t need to destroy her in the process. I’m one of the highest ranked Jonin in the entire village, I think I can handle a girl that is the same age as me and a medic at that.”

He knew I was right, he wasn’t going to put up a huge fight about it, but he couldn’t just give in so quickly. “IF I were to agree with this...you are to report directly to me every day, maybe twice a day about what has been said, happened, or any rational memories she does regain. We need to be diligent and nobody is to know that she is anything other than a medic trained by Tsunade. Do I make myself clear?”

“Absolutely.” I was shocked yet thrilled that he actually considered the proposition in the first place. “She can stay with me, I have a guest room and I can make sure nobody finds out. She will probably listen to me over anyone, she seems to actually trust me so far.”

Minato took a couple of minutes to weigh the options, pros and cons, before deciding that it would be acceptable as long as nothing else major happened to change the circumstances. He turned on his heels and went to find the discharge nurse. “Don’t make me regret this Kakashi.”


End file.
